Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080449

Authors: Patcha Siwapornpitak Napat Harnpornchai

Economic development is multidimensional, yet provincial comparisons in Thailand often rely on individual indicators or broad sustainability indices. This study constructs separate TOPSIS rankings of economic prosperity and distributional outcomes for all 77 Thai provinces. Six prosperity indicators capture economic output, human capital, spatial agglomeration, labor market outcomes, and structural transformation, while four distributional indicators capture income inequality, economic vulnerability, informal employment, and household dependency. The analysis uses 2024 provincial accounts and Labor Force Survey microdata, with comparisons for 2022–2024. Prosperity is concentrated in Bangkok, the surrounding metropolitan region, and the Eastern Seaboard, while Phuket represents a distinct tourism-led pathway. Favorable distributional outcomes are concentrated within the metropolitan–industrial corridor, whereas disadvantage is more prevalent in the North and Northeast. The rankings are associated but conceptually distinct, and the prosperity ranking differs meaningfully from one based solely on GPP per capita. The prosperity ranking is highly stable over time, while the distributional ranking exhibits substantial stability after harmonizing income coverage. Both rankings are robust to alternative normalization procedures, weighting schemes, and aggregation methods. Spatial statistics confirm clustering. The findings demonstrate the value of separating economic prosperity from distributional disadvantage when benchmarking provincial development and assessing urban–regional disparities.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080448

Authors: Saif Ul Haq Muhammad Iqbal Musaddaq Azeem Muhammad Mohsin Rashid Muhammad Kashif

This study aims to examine the role of Relational Stakeholder Management (RSM) on the success of sustainable construction projects in urban areas of Pakistan. The study also examines the mediating role of trust (competence trust, integrity trust, and intuitive trust) and the moderating role of project managers’ leadership skills. Data were collected from 303 professionals working on sustainable construction projects in Pakistan and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results show that RSM has a positive and significant direct impact on the success of sustainable construction projects, while competence trust and integrity trust mediate this relationship. However, Intuitive Trust did not mediate the relationship between RSM and project success. Furthermore, the project manager’s leadership competencies strengthen relationships with relational stakeholders and foster trust, thereby improving overall project success. This research highlights that, in addition to technical factors, human and relational aspects are crucial to the success of energy-efficient and low-carbon construction projects in urban areas of Pakistan. The study provides integrated empirical evidence on the interplay between stakeholder relationships, trust, and leadership, specifically in the context of sustainable construction projects in urban areas of Pakistan. The findings of the study provide practical insights to improve RSM, develop trust, and strengthen leadership competencies to enhance success in sustainable construction projects.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080447

Authors: Jiuxing Wu Fanfan Qian

Rapid urbanization can shrink and fragment cultivated land while raising agricultural productivity, creating mismatches among spatial configuration, functional performance, and management modes. These dimensions are rarely assessed in a unified, value-neutral framework. We developed a Spatial–Functional–Modal (SFM) framework to evaluate multidimensional synchronicity in 46 county-level units of the Nanjing Metropolitan Area, China, using Period 6 data spanning 2000–2022. We combined 18 entropy-weighted indicators with coupling and coupling coordination degree (CCD) models at county and municipal scales. Regional SFM-CCD rose from 0.304 to 0.327 but remained in the model-defined near-misalignment category, while average coupling declined from 0.747 to 0.740. All pairwise CCDs increased, but coupling trajectories differed: spatial–functional coupling weakened, spatial–modal coupling diverged between Jiangsu and Anhui, and functional–modal coupling strengthened. Anhui’s SFM-CCD increased more consistently and surpassed Jiangsu in later years. Nanjing remained a relative synchronicity trough, reflecting weaker alignment among normalized dimensions rather than lower absolute agricultural capacity. Alternative weights and ±10% and ±20% perturbations largely preserved relative rankings and the overall temporal pattern, but absolute values and categories remained method-sensitive. The framework diagnoses asynchronous transitions and can inform differentiated governance in other rapidly urbanizing regions.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080446

Authors: Aleksandar Trifunović Ivan Ivanović Nenad Marković Zoran Vidović Tijana Ivanišević

The rapid transition toward electric mobility is widely recognized as a key strategy for improving urban environmental quality. However, while electric vehicles eliminate tailpipe emissions, they continue to contribute to environmental pressures through non-exhaust sources such as tire wear, road surface abrasion, and particle resuspension. This study develops a composite index framework for assessing road-segment-level operational environmental burdens associated with electric traffic, focusing on traffic operations, electric vehicle load characteristics, non-exhaust emission potential, and meteorological dispersion conditions. The framework does not constitute a life-cycle assessment and does not include battery production, electricity-generation mix, or other upstream environmental impacts. The framework combines four dimensions of influence: traffic operations, electric vehicle characteristics, non-exhaust emission processes, and meteorological dispersion conditions. Indicator selection was performed using the Delphi method, while indicator weights were determined through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The methodological contribution lies not in the individual methods applied, but in their integration into a road-segment-level assessment framework specifically designed to identify and prioritize environmentally sensitive locations under traffic electrification scenarios. The resulting model incorporates sixteen indicators aggregated into a single environmental impact index that enables the ranking, classification, and prioritization of urban road segments according to their environmental burden. A case study conducted on selected urban streets demonstrates that non-exhaust emission indicators, particularly tire wear and particle resuspension, represent the most influential factors in the assessment process. Within the illustrative five-segment case study, the relative road-segment ranking remained unchanged under the electrified-traffic scenario, while the structure of the assessed burden shifted toward non-exhaust processes. The proposed framework provides a practical decision-support tool for urban planners and transport authorities by enabling the identification of environmentally sensitive locations, prioritization of infrastructure interventions, and support for sustainable mobility strategies in increasingly electrified urban transport systems.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080445

Authors: Matej Cenky Jozef Bendik Peter Janiga

Freely accessible weather APIs are an attractive input for photovoltaic (PV) power prediction, yet how their reference-based error carries through—under temporal aggregation—into day-ahead PV energy is rarely quantified before model development. This study audits eight freely accessible weather-data services—seven forecast services and the Meteostat observational archive—and finds that, for the endpoints, subscription tiers, and collection period evaluated here, only two of the forecast services expose hourly global horizontal irradiance (GHI), while a third advertised irradiance field returns empty—itself a material result for municipal integrators. The two irradiance-capable services are propagated through a common physical PV model of the 548 kWp east–west rooftop plant being built on a university campus in Bratislava, Slovakia, against independent references (CAMS irradiance; NASA POWER temperature and wind). Throughout, “error” denotes discrepancy against the reference, not measurement truth. Over a common 62-day spring–summer window, the day-ahead daily-energy mean absolute error (MAE, relative to mean reference daily energy) is 10–11% for both sources; Open-Meteo’s winter-inclusive own window raises its value to about 13%. On the matched window, Open-Meteo has the lower hourly GHI RMSE (121 vs. 128 W·m−2), yet this advantage does not carry through to day-ahead energy—the point-estimate ordering even changes—and neither matched-window difference is statistically resolved. Because daily aggregation rewards low bias over low scatter, this ordering change is already present in daily GHI energy—before the PV conversion—so hourly irradiance accuracy alone does not determine day-ahead energy. Propagated input-data auditing is therefore an advisable step before ML-based PV forecasting and day-ahead scheduling of urban distributed PV.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080444

Authors: Tamer ElSerafi

Smart mobility strategies often emphasize digital information, applications, and data-driven transport management, while giving less attention to the stop-level conditions that shape passengers’ everyday experience. This study develops and applies a Smart Bus Stop Readiness Index (SBSRI) to assess seven interchange bus stops in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The index integrates five weighted dimensions: Passenger Information and Digital Readiness; Physical and Thermal Comfort Provision; Pedestrian Accessibility and Universal Design; Safety and Security; and Land-Use and Activity Integration. Data were collected through field audits, spatial mapping, passenger observations, and a short survey of 71 users. The results indicate that the selected stops have operational interchange importance but generally limited readiness. The mean SBSRI score was 39.07/100; under the adopted planning-oriented classification scheme, only Al-Balad Main Station A achieved moderate readiness, while the remaining stops were classified as showing low or very low readiness. Physical and Thermal Comfort Provision was the weakest dimension, particularly in relation to shade, seating, shelter, and shaded waiting areas. Passenger information and pedestrian accessibility also showed substantial deficiencies. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the principal stop rankings remained stable under alternative weighting scenarios, although category labels were more responsive to threshold selection. This study concludes that smart bus stop readiness should be assessed as a socio-technical condition integrating digital systems with climate-responsive waiting provision, pedestrian accessibility, safety, and the surrounding urban context.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080443

Authors: Angela Girardo Edmond Manahasa Odeta Manahasa Emina Zejnilović

This research examines the impact of urbicide on urban memory, using the city of Sarajevo as a case study. Urbicide is defined as the deliberate destruction of the built environment, including both its tangible and intangible aspects. This study proposes a place-based, multilayered methodological framework to analyze the effects of urbicide on the erasure of urban memory among inhabitants, as well as on traumatic and transformed urban memory. The methodological approach proposed and used in this research includes desk research; urban analysis to reveal the material evidence of destruction; sampling to categorize the level of destruction; visual documentation; surveying to measure the impact of urbicide on urban memory; thematic analysis to interpret the results; and mapping to locate both the tangible and intangible aspects of the survey results. The suggested methodological approach is tested through a pilot study in the city of Sarajevo, 31 years after the end of the 1992–95 siege. The results of the pilot survey presented in this paper, although partial due to the sample size, allowed us to explore the feasibility of the method and to implement the necessary improvements to measure the impacts of urbicide on city memory. Furthermore, the pilot study highlighted the need for a holistic, mixed-methods approach to investigate both the tangible and intangible aspects of urbicide, with a specific emphasis on the use of visual questionnaires.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080442

Authors: Lasithasree Lakshmanan Sudhagar Nagarajan

Three-dimensional (3D) building reconstruction plays an important role in urban planning, disaster resilience, and sustainable infrastructure development. Conventional approaches based on airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data can be computationally intensive and often require large labeled datasets, particularly for large-scale applications. This study presents a semi-automated workflow for reconstructing multi-level 3D building models by integrating airborne LiDAR point cloud data with building footprints extracted from National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery using a Mask Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network (Mask R-CNN). The extracted footprints were used to spatially isolate building-specific LiDAR subsets for 3D reconstruction. The proposed methodology generated building models at multiple Levels of Detail (LOD), ranging from two-dimensional (2D) footprints to volumetric representations with detailed roof structures. Building footprint extraction was quantitatively evaluated against LiDAR-derived footprints generated using Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN), which served as the reference dataset and detected buildings obscured by tree canopy. The reconstruction workflow was implemented in Open3D and incorporated a boundary-aware mesh refinement strategy based on ear-clipping triangulation to improve rooftop continuity in LOD2 models. The proposed footprint extraction framework achieved a mean Intersection over Union (IoU) of 0.8226 relative to LiDAR-derived reference building footprints, indicating reliable building delineation that supports the proposed multi-level 3D building reconstruction workflow.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080441

Authors: Pawita Boonrat Voravika Wattanasoontorn

The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) in a region driven by tourism is a challenge. The dynamics of the waste produced can fluctuate significantly. Islands are particularly vulnerable due to geographic constraints and limited infrastructure. Using data to forecast and evaluate MSW management strategies would help make policy decisions. This research introduces a data-driven framework that integrates tourism dynamics with a predictive baseline for MSW generation and facilitates ongoing evaluation of system performance. The framework comprises four operational zones, namely data acquisition, baseline modelling, deviation analysis, and dashboard-based communication. It also follows the waste stream from upstream waste generation, through midstream collection and transfer, to downstream treatment and disposal. Phuket Island, Thailand, was chosen as a case study. The island has strong tourism-driven waste variability, limited waste management infrastructure, and a clear upstream–midstream–downstream waste-management chain. Tourism was explicitly integrated as an exogenous factor to capture transient demand effects. The amount of MSW was modelled using monthly tourism data. Support Vector Regression was selected to establish the expected waste baseline owing to its high predictive accuracy (MAE = 1143 t, RMSE = 1352 t and MAPE = 3.3%) outperforming other tested models (i.e., SARIMAX, Mean Baseline, Seasonal Naive, Random Forest and Histogram-Based Gradient Boost). Then, it was used to establish the baseline under normal conditions. The residual was then calculated as the difference between the observed values, and the performance of the maintenance system can be further assessed using the deviation analysis. A normal range defined within 3σ of the residual percentages from a baseline; values outside this range are flagged as anomalies. The results were integrated into a prototype dashboard to support operational monitoring, policy evaluation, and stakeholder-orientated interpretation. The proposed framework provides a practical basis for an evidence-based adaptive policy in tourism-dependent regions. Future work should incorporate waste composition and spatially explicit data to further improve the MSW management protocol. Considering that tourism demand exhibits seasonal patterns influenced by external factors, the results of this research offer an invaluable tool for waste management.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080440

Authors: José Rojas-Quiroz Carlos Marmolejo-Duarte

Machine learning (ML) models like XGBoost have gained traction in housing valuation as they outperform classical hedonic models in predictive accuracy. However, their black box nature has limited their interpretability, until recent advances like SHAP values enabled deeper insights into variable contributions. This study explores whether XGBoost not only predicts housing prices more accurately but can also help identify latent submarket structures, without imposing predefined spatial or socioeconomic boundaries. Using a raw dataset of 7092 housing listings from Barcelona (reduced to 6527 unique listings and finally to 6112 observations after outlier removal), we employ a sequential methodological framework: first, OLS and Spatial Durbin Models identify statistically significant predictors while accounting for spatial dependence; second, an XGBoost model is trained with these validated variables to extract SHAP values quantifying each attribute’s model-attributed contribution to individual predicted prices; third, clustering these SHAP values reveals three distinct submarkets with systematic differences in model-attributed valuation patterns. We validate the resulting segments through five complementary procedures: out-of-sample cluster assignment verifying segment generalizability; nested OLS interaction models that formally test differences in model-attributed valuation patterns across clusters; spatial block bootstrap resampling that assesses cluster stability under geographic subsampling; non-parametric tests against the 2017 cadastral value—an independent administrative proxy for spatial value stratification; and spatial autocorrelation statistics confirming non-random geographic structure. Together, this multi-pronged validation provides convergent evidence that the identified segments capture stable and externally coherent patterns in the model’s learned valuation structure. Unlike prior studies focused solely on prediction, our approach bridges ML’s technical rigor with econometric interpretability. We argue that this capability may stem from XGBoost’s tree-based architecture, which naturally partitions the feature space to accommodate heterogeneous valuation patterns. Future research could extend this framework to more recent tree-based models, further advancing interpretable ML for housing market analysis.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080439

Authors: Ravish Dubey Simone Mora Carlo Ratti

Urban areas contribute a dominant share of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, yet city-scale emission estimates remain highly uncertain due to the limited spatial and temporal resolution of existing observation methods. This review paper examined the potential of horizontally scanning Differential Absorption LiDAR (DIAL) systems to address these gaps in urban CO2 monitoring. We reviewed current top-down and bottom-up approaches, identified their limitations in resolving intra-urban variability, and outlined a conceptual framework for deploying compact, eye-safe CO2 DIAL systems on elevated urban structures. We reviewed methods that combined horizontal CO2 scanning with wind measurements to enable high-resolution mapping of CO2 distributions, assessment of boundary-layer effects, and estimation of urban carbon fluxes using established mass-balance and inversion techniques. Conceptual deployment scenarios, illustrated using Boston as an example, demonstrated how a single elevated LiDAR unit could provide near-city-wide coverage and capture neighborhood-scale emission patterns. We further discussed calibration strategies, safety considerations, and integration with existing sensor networks and column observations. This review concluded horizontal CO2 LiDAR represents a promising pathway toward high-resolution, observation-based urban carbon monitoring, offering a complementary tool to existing methods and supporting future efforts to verify emission inventories, evaluate mitigation policies, and advance city-scale carbon management.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080438

Authors: Yanelba E. Abreu-Rojas Juan C. Sala-Rosario Antonio Torres-Valle Antonio Jurado-Málaga Ulises J. Jauregui-Haza

Disaster risk perception in informal urban settlements remains insufficiently understood despite its importance for climate adaptation and urban resilience policies. This study evaluated disaster risk perception among residents of nine informal settlements in Greater Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, focusing on the relationship between the subjective risk of disaster, poverty, and socio-environmental vulnerability. A mixed-methods approach was applied using the RISKPERCEP algorithm and a structured survey composed of 98 questions grouped into key perception variables. A total of 198 surveys were conducted across four municipalities, supported by expert consultation, probabilistic sample-size calculation, and statistical analyses including chi-square tests and Cramér’s V coefficients. The results revealed a generalized moderate underestimation of climate-related risks, mainly associated with limited understanding of hazards, weak institutional trust, low personal involvement, poor memory of past disasters, and reduced concern about consequences. Socioeconomic deprivation, particularly among women, retirees, and low-income groups, was strongly associated with higher perceived vulnerability. Statistical analyses demonstrated a dense and multidimensional network of interdependent social, economic, and spatial variables shaping vulnerability. The study concludes that low disaster risk perception constitutes a major barrier to climate adaptation in informal settlements and highlights the need for integrated public policies combining social protection, climate education, urban resilience, and community-based adaptation strategies. The implications of this study point to the use of a disaster risk perception inquiry method at the community level, structured around specific variables that allow the identification of underlying causes of the widespread underestimation of disaster risk. This approach enables the design of adaptive policies—both structural and non-structural—that explicitly incorporate these aspects when formulating resilience measures. Future research should aim to generalize the study to other communities across the country, preceded by addressing the limitations identified.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080437

Authors: Vlad Stoicescu Daniela Ioana Manea Vasile Alecsandru Strat Răzvan Popescu Alina-Cornelia Luchian (Chiriac) Radu Moldoveanu Alexandra Stefan

European smart cities face a distinct decarbonisation challenge in the gas component of urban energy consumption, which cannot be addressed through internal optimisation alone. The European Union (EU) Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities selected 112 cities for climate neutrality by 2030, including Bucharest Sector 2, Cluj-Napoca, and Suceava in Romania. The Mission timeline coincides with the Russian pipeline gas phase-out under Regulation (EU) 2026/261, the 5 August 2026 transposition deadline for the Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Market Package (also referred to as the Fourth Gas Package), and the post-Hormuz energy market environment of 2026. This paper develops a hinterland framework that links Romanian Mission cities to their rural renewable gas supply through biomethane and renewable hydrogen production, integrated with circular bioeconomy strategies and routed through the national transmission system operated by Transgaz. The empirical analysis combines documentary evidence from the May 2026 consultation on Government Emergency Ordinance 9/2026, institutional documentation of Transgaz and Romgaz, and the comparative European literature on smart city renewable energy integration. Findings show that Mission city decarbonisation pathways depend on rural-to-urban gas infrastructure calibration under the post-2024 regulatory cascade. The paper proposes specific deployment strategies for each Romanian Mission city.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080436

Authors: Balbine Alindekon Bopaki Phogole Kowiyou Yessoufou

Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects are increasingly acknowledged as a critical urban climate challenge with far-reaching consequences for human health and overall well-being. However, the conceptual structure, temporal evolution, and intellectual landscape of studies examining the relationships between UHI and human well-being remain fragmented, thereby constraining the development of integrated knowledge frameworks needed to guide future research, urban adaptation strategies, and evidence-based policy interventions. To this end, a total of 4857 studies were retrieved from the Scopus and Web of Science databases and screened following the PRISMA guidelines. These studies were then analyzed using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer. The results reveal a rapid and exponential growth in scientific output, particularly after 2010, with the output reaching its highest level in recent years. These outputs were shaped mostly in China and the United States with a well-established international collaboration network, while the Global South remain significantly underrepresented in scientific productions. We also found that studies are primarily structured around four dominant research clusters: urban heat island, thermal comfort, land surface temperature, and climate change. Furthermore, early studies predominantly focused on urban surface properties and built-environment characteristics, while recent research has increasingly shifted toward human health impacts, thermal stress, heat vulnerability, and well-being. Emerging research directions further highlight growing interest in nature-based solutions for mitigating UHI effects, alongside the application of advanced technologies such as machine learning and remote sensing for high-resolution urban climate assessment. Overall, our findings indicate a transition toward a more integrated urban climate–health–well-being research framework, while simultaneously revealing persistent geographical and conceptual gaps, particularly across the Global South. We therefore advocate for increased empirical research, stronger international collaboration, and context-specific urban adaptation strategies to better safeguard human well-being under intensifying urban heat conditions.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080435

Authors: Alessandro Martinelli

Urban regeneration increasingly depends on the governance mechanism that makes design-intensive change administratively possible. This paper examines a semi-formal coordination forum established in Hsinchu, Taiwan, during the mayoralty of Chih-Chien Lin (2014–2022). Utilizing elite interviews and documentary sources, the research reconstructs how the forum convened bureau heads, external consultants, designers, and other stakeholders to coordinate a portfolio of regeneration projects. The findings indicate that the forum functioned as a cross-boundary governance interface. Rather than replacing formal procedures, it operated upstream and in parallel to clarify responsibilities, mediate design judgment, enhance procurement credibility, and expedite implementation through iterative review. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that the forum cannot be classified within established governance design categories such as steering committee, task force, project office, or design review panel. Instead, it represents a hybrid model that integrates diverse characteristics, with its value derived from a complex micro-organization of actors and routines over time.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080434

Authors: Jinyue Zhang Victoria Luo Xinrui Wen Angela Liu Tian Qiu Yilin Wei

Citizen-sourced non-emergency reporting is an increasingly important component of smart-city governance, yet cities often lack systematic methods for evaluating alternative participation designs before deployment. This study develops a design-oriented pre-deployment evaluation framework for assessing citizen adoption of a proposed reporting application and comparing alternative incentive mechanisms. Drawing on an extended UTAUT framework, the study introduces perceived value (PV) as a mediating mechanism linking incentive framings to behavioral intention. A scenario-based survey experiment with 580 participants in the Greater Toronto Area compared the following four conditions: control, monetary incentive, recognition, and donation-based community-benefit incentive. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM and bootstrapped mediation analysis. Results indicate that performance expectancy and attitude are the strongest predictors of behavioral intention, while trust was significantly associated with both cognitive and affective evaluations of the reporting system. Social influence becomes non-significant once these evaluations are included. Recognition and donation-based community-benefit incentives significantly increased perceived value and showed both direct and indirect effects on performance expectancy and behavioral intention. At the behavioral-intention stage, indirect effects accounted for approximately 80% of their respective total effects, indicating complementary mediation with indirect effects predominating. By contrast, the specific $2 city-credit condition showed no significant direct, indirect, or total effect. Rather than proposing a new acceptance theory, the study demonstrates how technology acceptance modeling can be repurposed as a practical decision-support framework for evaluating alternative civic-technology designs before system launch. Limitations related to the pre-deployment setting and intention-based measures are acknowledged, and future research directions involving field deployment and longitudinal participation analysis are discussed.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080433

Authors: Alberto Rodríguez-Barcón Luciano González Alfaya Patricia Muñiz Núñez

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented collective reflection on everyday urban life, reshaping how citizens perceived proximity, mobility patterns, and the sustainability of everyday transport systems. This article examines whether these pandemic-induced reflections resonated with the core principles of the 15-Minute City, understood not as a policy blueprint but as an emergent social imaginary. Drawing on a large-scale comparative survey conducted during the strictest lockdown phase in April–May 2020 (n = 9575), the study analyses survey respondents’ desires and expectations regarding post-pandemic urban change across nine Ibero-American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, and Spain. Using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests, the results reveal a strong and widely shared normative orientation toward greener, more walkable, and more localized urban environments, all of which are key dimensions of sustainable urban mobility transitions, including reduced car dependence and a greater reliance on active transport modes such as walking and cycling. However, these aspirations are consistently accompanied by significantly lower expectations of implementation, resulting in a pronounced desire–expectation gap across all countries. This gap displays clear geographical variation and appears closely associated with perceived governance capacity and institutional trust, with European countries showing greater alignment between aspiration and expectation than their Latin American counterparts. The findings suggest that, even in the absence of explicit policy discourse, respondents expressed aspirational urban imaginaries displaying affinities with principles commonly associated with the 15-Minute City framework. By empirically capturing these bottom-up imaginaries, the study contributes to debates on sustainable urban transport and mobility transitions by highlighting the social foundations and governance constraints of proximity-based planning across diverse institutional contexts.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080432

Authors: Xinghan Gong Yu Yan Caicai Xu Yating Fan Doreen H. Liu

Global climate change and rapid urbanization have intensified extreme precipitation events, making urban pluvial flood risk management particularly urgent. However, existing research exhibits theoretical and methodological limitations in reconciling pluvial flood resilience within high-density urban development, especially lacking a quantitative framework for human mobility resilience based on natural hydrological units. To address this, this study takes 48 natural catchment areas in Shenzhen as research units. By integrating mobile phone signaling data, remote sensing imagery, and multi-dimensional spatial form indicators, it constructs a post-disaster recovery curve based on population dynamics to quantify human mobility resilience. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, and the K-means clustering method, this research analyzes the mechanisms through which green infrastructure, road network structure, and three-dimensional building morphology influence resilience. The results show that three-dimensional building morphology is the core driver of post-disaster recovery capacity, with Floor Area Ratio (FAR), Standard Deviation of Building Height (SDBH), and Building Coverage Ratio (BCR) significantly promoting recovery, while Building Shape Coefficient (BSC) exerts an inhibitory effect. A key comparative analysis reveals that the model based on natural catchment areas has significantly better explanatory power than the model using stormwater management units, and the dominant factors differ: building morphology factors are more prominent in natural hydrological units, whereas road network structure factors are more significant in stormwater management units. This study confirms that natural geographic boundaries can more authentically reveal the intrinsic “morphology–resilience” relationship, providing an important theoretical and empirical basis for optimizing the planning and management units of sponge cities in high-density urban areas.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080431

Authors: Tássia Faria de Assis Victor Hugo Souza de Abreu Lino Guimarães Marujo Marcio de Almeida D’Agosto

Sustainable construction has emerged as a strategic response to contemporary environmental, social, and economic challenges, particularly in sectors with high resource consumption, such as logistics infrastructure. This study adapts and applies existing sustainability assessment frameworks to the specific context of logistics buildings by integrating Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) sustainability criteria with a Triple Bottom Line (TBL)-based materiality matrix. The research investigates how sustainability practices associated with LEED criteria can contribute to economic, environmental, and social performance within the TBL framework. To support this assessment, a materiality matrix is developed by integrating stakeholder perspectives and the potential impacts of sustainability practices across TBL dimensions, enabling the identification and prioritization of the most relevant strategies for the logistics context. Additionally, the study examines the contribution of LEED-based strategies to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within these dimensions. The main contribution of the study is the adaptation and application of established sustainability assessment frameworks to logistics projects through a structured decision-support framework that integrates LEED sustainability criteria, stakeholder-based materiality assessment, TBL perspectives, and sensitivity analysis to support sustainability-oriented decision-making.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080430

Authors: Jamal Al-Qawasmi Md Rafsun Jany Ziad Ashour

Public open space (POS) assessment tools have proliferated across disciplines and application contexts, yet their results often remain difficult to compare. Existing research has largely attributed this divergence to differences in indicator selection, overlooking the broader assessment architecture within which indicators acquire meaning. This study examines why POS assessment tools diverge by conceptualizing them as layered socio-technical sign systems. A systematic literature review identified 38 POS assessment tools, which were analyzed through structured content analysis. Twenty empirically derived attributes were mapped to a five-level semiotic framework comprising the empiric, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, and social levels. The findings demonstrate that divergence is systematic rather than incidental and extends well beyond indicator content. At the empiric level, 57.9% of tools lack complete operational definitions, while 55.3% rely exclusively on subjective indicators. Structurally, 55.3% function as assessment frameworks rather than fully operational tools, reflecting substantial variation in procedural closure. Across all five semiotic levels, the cumulative interaction of measurement practices, structural organization, conceptual framing, intended application and institutional context generates cross-level structural misalignment that fundamentally constrains comparability. In response, this study proposes a semiotic compliance framework that specifies minimum documentation requirements for improving transparency, internal coherence, and interpretability without prescribing indicator standardization. The findings demonstrate that meaningful comparisons among POS assessment tools depend less on reducing indicator diversity than on explicitly aligning and documenting the multiple semiotic layers through which assessment systems generate meaning and support decision-making. The framework provides practical guidance for developing, evaluating, selecting, and comparing future POS assessment tools while preserving the contextual diversity required across different planning and governance settings.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080429

Authors: Vanessa Raymundo Martinez Eder Villagaray Apolaya Aaron Mamani Fernandez Marianela Sedano Guisela Yabar Torres Tito Vilchez Vilchez Julio Casquero Zaidman Abigail Ortiz Curinambe

The purpose of this research is to propose a sustainable urban support regeneration system aimed at recovering the historic urban landscape of Rimac, Lima (2024). The Historic Center of Rimac is currently undervalued due to several issues affecting the district, including citizen insecurity, the limited percentage of green areas, excessive and unplanned urban growth, the abandonment of the district’s historic centers, and its disconnection from the surrounding urban environment. The methodology was developed through a review of bibliographic documents, such as scientific publications, together with the use of 2D and 3D software tools, which enabled the collection of environmental, cultural, physical–spatial, and urban information. The implementation of sustainable public spaces within the historic urban landscape of Rimac will transform the area into an attractive tourist and cultural destination. The viewpoints will provide panoramic views, the urban forests will improve air quality and increase green areas, and the site museum will preserve and disseminate the rich local history. Together, these interventions will promote urban regeneration, community wellbeing, and the sustainable development of the area, thereby offering an efficient proposal aimed at optimizing the district’s potential and implementing strategies that contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080428

Authors: Zeynep Atas Yuvacan Atmaca Zemzem Tasguzen Polat

Historic water infrastructure has often been treated primarily as a technical system, while its relationships with urban form, architectural organization, and everyday life have received less attention. Focusing on the old city of Mardin, this study examines historic water infrastructure, including partially accessible underground routes and their above-ground interfaces, as a constitutive component of spatial organization in a settlement shaped by arid climatic conditions and steep topography. A multi-scalar spatial-decoding approach combines Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS)-based mapping, morphological and sectional analysis, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-based three-dimensional documentation, archival research, field observation, and oral testimony. The findings reveal a decentralized configuration of largely independent gravity-fed source-to-outlet routes embedded across urban and architectural scales. Water access, maintenance requirements, and architectural integration contributed to the organization of public nodes, institutional buildings, domestic spaces, and everyday practices without independently determining them. The transition to centralized modern supply disrupted these embedded relationships and transformed the visibility, accessibility, use, and situated knowledge of water. Methodologically, the study offers a transferable cross-scalar approach for reconstructing relationships between partially concealed infrastructure and visible urban form.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080427

Authors: Yasmany García-Ramírez Juan Diego Ríos-Arévalo Michael Sanmartín-Jaramillo Eduardo Romero-Aguilar

Illegal parking is a persistent challenge in central areas of intermediate cities, where growing demand for curb access competes with limited road space, pedestrian circulation, and public transport operations. While previous research on parking management and curbside regulation has documented links between parking behavior, congestion, and street performance, empirical evidence based on direct street-segment observations remains limited in Latin American intermediate-city contexts. This study examines the distribution across observed street segments, user profile, and urban impacts of parking events across six commercial street segments in central Loja, Ecuador. A total of 1425 parking events were recorded between 11 and 28 May 2026 and classified by maneuver type, vehicle type, apparent use, parking reason, companions, operational conditions, and impacts on congestion, pedestrian circulation, and public transport. Descriptive statistics, exact confidence intervals, chi-square tests with Cramér’s V, false discovery rate correction, standardized residuals, and adjusted logistic regression models were applied. Results show that 64.4% of observed events were infractions, mainly prohibited-zone parking (38.9%) and double parking (25.5%). Infraction type varied strongly by street segment (Cramér’s V = 0.651). Adjusted congestion probabilities were substantially higher for double parking (45.0%) and prohibited-zone parking (41.3%) than for non-infraction events (10.2%). The findings indicate substantial heterogeneity in illegal-parking prevalence and composition among the six observed street segments, together with significant associations between parking infractions and urban street performance. These results identify segment-specific differences within the study area but should not be interpreted as evidence of spatial predictability beyond the observed locations and period.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080426

Authors: Qixiang Geng Shufang Zhao Hang Yang Xi Wang

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a densely populated, highly connected coastal urban region that is exposed to typhoons, extreme rainfall, flooding, storm surges, heat-related risks, and public health emergencies. Existing studies have clarified many aspects of hazard exposure and spatial vulnerability, but evidence on how residents receive warnings, interpret risks, prepare, evacuate, and contribute to community resilience remains dispersed across disciplines and jurisdictions. This study maps the intellectual structure and thematic evolution of research on residents’ responses to urban disaster risks in the GBA. Following a PRISMA 2020-aligned identification and screening process, 144 records from the Web of Science Core Collection were manually screened. Bibliometric analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, a region–hazard matrix, and a BERTopic-inspired topic modelling procedure were then used to identify publication trends, disciplinary sources, spatial hazard patterns, and latent themes. The results show accelerated growth after 2020 and identify six interrelated themes: risk perception and preparedness; evacuation and shelter accessibility; urban flooding vulnerability; typhoon, storm surge, and coastal community risk; community resilience and climate adaptation governance; and health emergency response and psychosocial resilience. The review synthesises these findings into a heuristic framework linking risk information, cognitive appraisal, response action, and community resilience. The GBA is treated as an analytically informative, rather than statistically representative, case of a high-density, coastal, and multi-jurisdictional urban region. The findings suggest that resident-centred resilience planning should connect trusted and actionable warnings with inclusive digital communication, accessible protective resources, and cross-boundary coordination for compound hazards.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080425

Authors: Meiyun Huang Zhiwen Deng Lingyan Chen Yushan Zheng

Urban parks can mitigate residents’ mental health risks. Although bamboo landscapes are widespread in Chinese parks, evidence for their stress-relief benefits remains limited, and current evaluation media are constrained. This study assessed the feasibility of virtual reality 180° (VR180) for landscape evaluation and examined the stress-relief benefits of bamboo landscapes in urban parks. A pilot study (n = 232) compared perceptual realism and psychological perception across four presentation modes (on-site scene, binocular 3D video, binocular 3D photograph, and two-dimensional photograph). A main experiment (n = 280) examined the stress-relief benefits of six bamboo landscape types (bamboo–terrain, bamboo–architecture, bamboo–environmental furniture, bamboo–pavement, bamboo–water, and bamboo–plant landscapes) using pre- and post-viewing changes in skin conductance level (SCL), heart rate variability indices, including high-frequency power (HF) and the LF/HF (low-frequency/high-frequency) ratio, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), with urban block landscapes as the control. VR180 outperformed two-dimensional photographs in perceptual realism and psychological perception and showed relatively high substitutability for on-site evaluation, with binocular 3D videos performing better than binocular 3D photographs. Urban park bamboo landscapes generally elicited stress-relief benefits, whereas urban block landscapes showed the opposite pattern. Bamboo–water and bamboo–plant landscapes showed the most favorable overall responses, with bamboo–water ranking higher, whereas bamboo–pavement ranked lowest. Overall, bamboo landscapes combined with naturalized elements tended to produce more favorable stress-relief responses, while hard elements may partly influence these benefits through cultural expression. This study provides a methodological option for landscape evaluation in small-scale scenes and offers physiological evidence for understanding the health value of urban park bamboo landscapes.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080424

Authors: Heba Z. Nusair Mintai Kim

This study examines correlates of preferred future work arrangements among adult residents of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, Virginia, a mid-sized U.S. metropolitan region. It focuses on whether remote-work preference varies by sociodemographic characteristics, pandemic-era work-from-home experience, occupational perceptions, and attitudes toward physical interaction. Data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey administered in 2023, during the post-acute pandemic period. After excluding incomplete responses, duplicates, respondents younger than 18 years, cases without verifiable adult eligibility, and cases without verified residence in the study area, the final analytical sample included 636 respondents. Analyses included chi-square tests, Spearman rank correlations, a Stuart–Maxwell test of marginal homogeneity, and an adjusted multinomial logistic regression model. Among respondents with valid preference data in this nonprobability analytical sample, 63.8% preferred fully remote work. Among paired current–preferred cases, preferred arrangements differed significantly from current arrangements, with 87.0% of respondents reporting a directional change preferring movement toward a more remote arrangement. Preferred future work arrangement was significantly associated with age, education, earnings, marital status, housing tenure, perceived work-from-home efficiency, occupational remote-work perceptions, and physical-interaction importance; gender was not significant. Findings indicate substantial but socially differentiated remote-work preference, with implications for workforce planning in mid-sized metropolitan regions.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080423

Authors: Alberto Rodríguez-Barcón

Over the last two decades, touristification has become one of the most influential concepts for understanding the relationship between tourism and urban change. However, existing research remains strongly shaped by the experiences of large metropolitan areas and globally recognized tourist destinations, leaving intermediate urban contexts comparatively underexplored. This paper addresses this gap by examining the Atlantic Urban System of the north-western Iberian Peninsula as a framework for understanding touristification beyond dominant metropolitan paradigms. Drawing on debates on touristification, ordinary cities, intermediate urbanism, and regional development, the article argues that the polycentric structure, historical peripherality, and growing integration of this urban system create distinctive conditions shaping tourism-related urban change. Building on previous work on the Atlantic Urban Axis, the paper conceptualizes the Atlantic Urban System as a territorial configuration composed largely of interconnected intermediate cities and develops a framework for analysing touristification through five interrelated dimensions: territorial position, housing market structure, tourism development trajectories, urban governance, and urban form. Rather than proposing a new urban type, the article highlights the analytical value of examining tourism-related transformations within a specific territorial configuration and contributes to ongoing efforts to diversify the geographical foundations of urban theory.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10080422

Authors: Robert William Pendergrass

Wrong Citation [...]

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070421

Authors: Khoren Mkhitaryan Sergey Aslanyan Gor Harutyunyan Erika Kirakosyan

The accelerating digital transformation of urban economies is reshaping labor markets at unprecedented speed, generating skills mismatches, employment volatility, and widening inclusion gaps that current smart city governance frameworks are insufficiently equipped to address. While the smart city literature has advanced substantially in the areas of digital infrastructure, mobility, and e-government services, the governance of labor market transitions in data-driven urban environments remains conceptually underdeveloped. In particular, no integrated analytical framework currently links smart city governance, labor market intelligence, and workforce resilience into a coherent tool for assessing urban preparedness for technology-driven employment change. This study addresses that gap by developing the Urban Workforce Readiness Framework (UWRF)—an integrated conceptual model designed to evaluate how prepared urban labor markets are for accelerating digital and technological transformation. Methodologically, the framework is constructed through a structured synthesis of peer-reviewed scholarship published between 2015 and 2025 across five domains—smart city governance, labor market regulation, human capital development, workforce resilience, and data-driven public administration—complemented by a thematic review of policy documents issued by the OECD, ILO, European Commission, and World Bank. On this basis, the UWRF identifies five interdependent dimensions of urban workforce readiness: (i) digital infrastructure capacity, (ii) labor market intelligence and analytics, (iii) workforce skills adaptability, (iv) institutional governance capacity, and (v) social inclusion mechanisms. A multi-criteria operationalization is proposed, enabling comparative diagnostic assessment across cities and supporting evidence-based prioritization of policy interventions. The analysis demonstrates that institutional governance capacity and real-time labor market intelligence function as critical mediators within the system: in their absence, even substantial investments in digital infrastructure fail to produce resilient, inclusive, or sustainable labor market outcomes. Theoretically, the study extends data-driven governance scholarship beyond service delivery into the domain of workforce management, thereby integrating three traditionally separate research streams—smart city studies, labor market governance, and digital public administration—under a single analytical architecture. Practically, the UWRF provides policymakers, municipal authorities, labor market institutions, and urban planners with a structured diagnostic instrument for aligning digital transformation strategies with sustainable and equitable employment outcomes, and offers a replicable foundation for future empirical validation across diverse urban contexts.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070420

Authors: Dillip Kumar Das

Although smart city strategies increasingly employ emerging technologies to improve urban services, existing research often treats these technologies in isolation from broader socio-technical systems. Similarly, urban resilience scholarship conceptualises cities as complex adaptive systems but rarely integrates digital infrastructure into formal resilience frameworks. This study examined how digital technologies can be holistically integrated into urban systems to support sustainable, adaptive, and resilient smart cities. It also developed a systems-thinking–based framework to guide the governance and design of inclusive and environmentally responsive urban systems. The study was conducted using a qualitative multi-method approach combining literature review and comparative case analysis of digitally advanced cities, including Singapore, Amsterdam, Wuhan, Copenhagen, Barcelona, and cities in Karnataka, India. The findings indicate that resilience depends less on the scale of technological deployment and more on the integration of digital infrastructure with adaptive governance, interoperability, and citizen participation. Drawing on systems thinking and system dynamics, the study proposes a digital feedback framework in which reinforcing loops enhance sensing, decision intelligence, inclusivity, and sustainability, while balancing loops that regulate risks related to privacy, inequality, technological lock-in, and environmental rebound effects. The study contributes a systems-based framework linking smart city development with adaptive urban resilience.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070419

Authors: Alan G. Phipps Wen Jiang

Social and economic satisfaction gaps are theoretical differences between a resident’s socially or monetarily most preferred affordable home attributes and the actual attributes of their current home. In this study, the satisfaction gaps of two samples of respondents are predicted with their social utility data for preferred attributes in 1987 and 2020, in conjunction with the asking or sale prices and comparable attributes of single detached or similar homes merged with small-area census data for periods up to those dates. Average social and economic gaps of less than 20% affirm respondents’ overall satisfaction with their current homes, most of whom were recent movers. However, wider social satisfaction gaps among the minority of residents may reflect dissatisfaction with new suburban locations in one sample and older inner city housing in the other. Four practical and theoretical contributions of the utility modelling of residential satisfaction gaps in objective and subjective home attributes, as opposed to direct surveying of residential satisfaction, are concluded.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070418

Authors: Sanja Obradović Strålman Vladimir Stojanović Nikola Milentijević

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 11 requires active engagement of local communities in environmental protection and sustainable urban development. Although residents play a critical role in supporting sustainability initiatives, limited research has examined how community-related factors shape environmental attitudes, environmental engagement, and support for sustainable behaviour in urban tourism destinations. This study investigates the relationships among destination social responsibility, community attachment, community involvement, environmental attitudes, community environmental participation, environmental advocacy and action, perceived environmental benefits, and support for sustainable behaviour among residents of Novi Sad, Serbia. Data were collected from 1038 residents and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that community attachment positively influences environmental attitudes and support for sustainable behaviour, while community involvement enhances community environmental participation and environmental advocacy and action. Environmental attitudes positively affect community environmental participation, environmental advocacy and action, and perceived environmental benefits. Perceived environmental benefits, in turn, strengthen support for sustainable behaviour. Conversely, destination social responsibility does not significantly influence community attachment or community involvement. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening residents’ attachment to their community, encouraging participation in local affairs, and fostering positive environmental attitudes to promote sustainable urban development. The study contributes to sustainable urban tourism research by identifying key social and psychological mechanisms that encourage environmental engagement and support for sustainability-oriented behaviour.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070417

Authors: Galina Segarra-Morales

This study examines the urban–rural interface of Loja, Ecuador, as a differentiated socio-ecological system shaped by environmental structure, the persistence of productive land, reliance on infrastructure, and terrain-adaptive settlement patterns. An integrated territorial taxonomy was developed using a four-phase methodological framework that combined morphological analysis, socio-territorial characterization, adaptive tectonic interpretation, and multivariate synthesis. Ten representative polygons located within Loja’s Andean periphery were evaluated using indicators of Biotic Porosity (BP), Degree of Hybridity (DH), Infrastructure Dependency (ID), and Alimentary Autonomy Extent (AAE), complemented by spatial analysis, field verification, and exploratory correlation assessment. The results revealed strong positive associations between socio-territorial hybridity and alimentary autonomy (ρ = 0.92), and strong negative associations between hybridity and infrastructure dependency (ρ = −0.88). A moderate positive relationship was identified between biotic porosity and hybridity (ρ = 0.67). The analysis also identified three adaptive tectonic typologies—Terracing, Cantilever, and Platform Urbanization—and a territorial taxonomy composed of Resilient, Adaptive, and Consolidating Edges. These findings demonstrate that the Andean urban periphery operates as a heterogeneous continuum rather than a homogeneous expansion zone. Although the statistical relationships should be interpreted as exploratory due to the limited sample size, the framework provides a useful basis for comparative research and resilience-oriented planning in intermediate mountain cities undergoing rapid territorial transformation.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070416

Authors: Andrei Crisan Sorin Herban Massimiliano Pepe Jan Karlshøj Valerio Baiocchi Bogdan Runceanu

Digital Twins (DT) are increasingly positioned as key enablers of sustainable urban development, yet many implementations remain fragmented, technology-driven, and weakly connected to clearly defined decision-making needs. The present study develops a structured information governance framework for DTs, drawing on the principles of ISO 19650. The framework establishes a traceable hierarchy linking organizational objectives, DT use cases, information requirements, the Level of Information Need, information exchange processes and machine-readable Information Delivery Specifications. Its purpose is to ensure that information is clearly defined, exchanged, validated, and maintained in a consistent and verifiable manner before it is used for monitoring, simulation, predictive analytics, or decision support. The proposal is illustrated through an urban air-quality Digital Shadow demonstrator integrating BIM, GIS, weather services, and a real-time visualization environment. Candidate information-quality indicators are also introduced and demonstrated through synthetic calculations intended to explain their application. Neither the demonstrator nor the calculated KPI values constitute validation of the framework or evidence of improved operational performance. Instead, they establish a structured basis for future testing in operational Urban Digital Twin (UDT) implementations. The contribution lies in integrating established BIM concepts into a single DT-oriented traceability chain rather than introducing them as new standards or methods.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070415

Authors: Aimar Santos-Garcia Izaskun Aseguinolaza Braga Nagore Urrutia del Campo

This article advances the understanding of urban spaces that enable the emergence of “life between buildings”, understood as South European environments capable of supporting care, social interaction, and community life. The study focuses on in-between spaces, defined as spatial realms located between the private sphere of the dwelling and the public sphere of the city, and characterized by both physical and social dimensions. Specifically, the article addresses the quantitative assessment of their social dimension by developing an objective model to identify the degree of in-between character present in urban space. The proposed model comprises two complementary stages. The first consists of an activity-mapping methodology designed to record the social and use-related characteristics that define in-between spaces. The second establishes a set of indicators that determine the in-between character of each space on the basis of the data collected through this mapping process. By measuring the level of in-between character, the model helps identify the types of urban settings in which relationships that strengthen community life are generated. This knowledge can support spatial planning strategies aimed at producing appropriate privacy gradients and improving existing residential environments through a more suitable provision of public space and enhancing the everyday habitability of nearby urban fabrics.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070414

Authors: Carla Scott-Florence

Urban surveillance infrastructure is a form of public service deployment subject to the same equity standards as other spatially distributed urban systems. This study examines the geographic distribution of body-worn camera (BWC)-equipped officer density produced by the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) 2015–2017 randomized controlled trial across Washington, D.C.’s eight wards, asking whether a formally neutral police technology deployment produced unequal per-capita densities across the city’s racially and socioeconomically stratified urban landscape. Using officer-level BWC assignment data drawn from the trail’s publicly available replication files, aggregated from police districts to wards through a population-weighted spatial crosswalk, the analysis compares BWC-equipped officer density between majority-Black, east-of-Anacostia Wards 7–8 and majority-White, northwest Wards 2–3, and tests associations with ward-level demographic and socioeconomic indicators. Cameras were assigned to officers at an essentially constant rate across districts (approximately 50%), so ward-level variation in density reflects the underlying distribution of officers rather than the camera-assignment mechanism. Descriptively, Wards 7–8 showed a modestly higher mean density than Wards 2–3 (3.31 vs. 3.15 BWC-equipped officers per 1000 residents; a difference of approximately 5%), but the comparison did not reach statistical significance, and ward-level density was uncorrelated with the percentage of Black residents (r = 0.008). These inferential results are statistically inconclusive given the small number of geographic units rather than affirmative evidence of equitable distribution. A more direct secondary measure BWC activations (recordings) per capita shows a modestly larger focal-ward gap (approximately 11%) that is likewise non-significant and uncorrelated with racial composition (r = 0.05). This convergence corroborates rather than overturns the primary measure, indicating that the null is not an artifact of how exposure is operationalized. The findings are interpreted as exploratory and descriptive: officers and therefore cameras were not distributed in proportion to residential population, which locates any equity concern upstream in deployment intensity rather than in the camera technology itself and motivates spatially explicit equity monitoring as a component of sustainable urban governance.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070413

Authors: Vladan Varićak Dejan Ecet Saša Medić Jelena Atanacković Jeličić

Technologies such as cellular automata, genetic algorithms, and artificial intelligence have greatly expanded the range of possible architectural and urban solutions. The challenge is no longer only how to generate form, but how to interpret, evaluate, and select among multiple outcomes produced within computationally open-ended systems. When such generated alternatives are understood as collections, selection can be approached as a curatorial act. This article introduces the concept of algo-scapes: potentially extensive algorithmic landscapes whose meaning emerges only through processes of human discernment, comparison, and choice. To examine the broader logic of such selection, the study adopts a two-phase comparative design based on two parallel surveys. In the first phase, responses from 32 collectors of material objects are used to examine how collections are expanded and evaluated under conditions of differentiation, coherence, and spatial limitation. In the second phase, responses from 50 architects, urban planners, and interior designers are analyzed in order to determine whether analogous patterns can be identified in the ways spatial systems are developed, modified, and brought to temporary states of completion. The findings suggest that the strongest similarity between the two domains lies not in identical criteria of evaluation, but in a shared structure of selective growth based on addition, differentiation, limitation, and temporary completeness. While collectors place greater emphasis on uniqueness, aesthetic value, and personal attachment, architects, urban planners, and interior designers prioritize systemic fit, improvement, and contextual coherence. The article argues that the logic of collection can serve as a useful interpretive model for understanding architectural, urban, and algorithmic design systems, provided that it is understood structurally rather than literally. In this sense, algo-scapes are not meaningful simply because they can generate many alternatives, but because they require meta-level criteria through which meaningful configurations can be selected from potentially open-ended fields of possibility.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070412

Authors: Michal Loman Veronika Harantová Saša Milojević

Enclosed transport environments are becoming an integral part of compact urban structures; however, their air quality is monitored less systematically than that of the outdoor urban environment. This study evaluates particulate matter concentrations (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) in two urban microenvironments in Banská Bystrica (Slovakia): an underground parking garage (representing private urban mobility) and an underground bus station (representing public transport). Continuous measurements using an enviDUST monitoring device were analysed in relation to occupancy rates and transport intensity. The results showed a dominance of the PM10 fraction in both environments, suggesting the importance of non-exhaust sources and dust resuspension in enclosed urban transport spaces. In the parking facility, the immediate relationship between occupancy and PM concentrations was weak; however, a time lag effect was observed, indicating particle accumulation. The bus station exhibited higher average concentrations (PM1: 8.67; PM2.5: 14.12; PM10: 34.12 µg/m3), while peak levels during nighttime highlighted the critical role of air stagnation and ventilation regimes. The study emphasizes the need to perceive such transport nodes as semi-public urban spaces requiring the integration of intelligent air quality management within sustainable urban development.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070411

Authors: Haruhiko Fujisaki Akira Nagamatsu

This paper presents a descriptive and exploratory analysis of temporal mismatch between Comprehensive Management Plans for Public Facilities (PFMPs) and other municipal management plans, and of the positioning of population assumptions against a common external benchmark, focusing on Japan’s 20 ordinance-designated cities. Using the PFMP as the reference plan, Mismatch Years and Mismatch Ratio are treated as risk indicators of potential coordination exposure, while DOG (annualised) is used as the primary indicator of demographic assumption positioning. Descriptive tabulations show that the average PFMP duration (20.80 years) exceeded those of the Basic Plan (10.00 years), Fiscal Vision (7.65 years), Administrative Management Policy (7.95 years), and Implementation Plan (4.30 years). Most cities projected population decline, although assumed levels varied considerably. Spearman correlations between DOG (annualised) and Mismatch Ratio were weakly negative for the Basic Plan, Fiscal Vision, and Administrative Management Policy, with no clear positive monotonic co-movement. These results suggest that temporal mismatch and demographic assumption positioning are analytically distinct governance dimensions. Policy implications include synchronising PFMP reviews with medium-term fiscal and administrative cycles, rechecking demographic assumptions against a common external benchmark, and stress-testing PFMP assumptions across multiple crisis scenarios.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070410

Authors: Pedro Chamusca

This article examines the relationship between tourism dynamics and housing systems in large urban municipalities, combining three complementary analytical dimensions: statistical indicators, correlation analysis, and resident survey data. The study explores how tourism growth, platform-mediated accommodation, and real estate pressures interact with housing affordability and availability. By triangulating municipal statistical indicators and residents’ perceptions, the article contributes to current debates on touristification, housing assetisation, and platform urbanism. The findings suggest that tourism–housing pressures are multidimensional and uneven, requiring integrated regulatory and planning responses that address both supply constraints and demand-side transformations linked to tourism economies.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070409

Authors: Rajjan Man Chitrakar

Public space is an essential component of urban life, serving as a common platform for social interaction, cultural expression, and everyday urban experience [...]

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070408

Authors: Yasmany García-Ramírez Vera Bijelić

Urban heat and walkability are often assessed separately, although pedestrians experience street connectivity, topography, vegetation, and thermal exposure simultaneously. This study develops a reproducible open-data workflow to examine the spatial relationship between walkability potential and surface thermal pressure in Loja, Ecuador, an intermediate Andean city shaped by valley morphology, steep slopes, uneven urban expansion, and heterogeneous green-space distribution. The analysis combines Landsat-derived land surface temperature, OpenStreetMap urban-form indicators, DEM-derived slope, composite spatial indicators, and spatial autocorrelation across 100 m, 250 m, and 500 m grids. The results show that walkability potential, observed LST-based heat intensity, and walkability–heat balance is spatially structured rather than randomly distributed. At the 250 m scale, heat-intensity clusters were spatially selective, indicating that surface thermal pressure is concentrated in specific parts of the retained analytical grid rather than uniformly distributed across the city. The 250 m grid provided the most interpretable balance between local detail and spatial stability for this case study, while the 100 m and 500 m grids revealed the sensitivity of the results to spatial aggregation. The study does not measure physiological thermal comfort or pedestrian heat stress. Instead, it offers an exploratory diagnostic framework for identifying where pedestrian-supportive urban form and surface thermal pressure overlap or diverge. This approach can help data-constrained intermediate cities prioritize areas for field verification, shade assessment, green-infrastructure planning, and more detailed pedestrian-level thermal studies.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070407

Authors: Lydia H. Maliti Issakwisa B. Ngondya Linus K. Munishi

Urban greenbelts are vital for biodiversity and ecosystem services but face threats from urban expansion. This study assessed the population structure and identified potential threats to woody plants in Arusha city’s greenbelts (nature areas and riparian forests). Woody plants were sampled across 53 grid cells (200 m × 200 m) using stratified random sampling and the Braun-Blanquet relief method. Remote sensing processed 2015 and 2022 satellite images. ArcGIS 10.8.2 software facilitated field data collection coordinates, the satellite imageries and spatial analyses. Standard plot sizes of 400 m2 were systematically selected for data collection. Significant differences in tree species diversity and abundance were observed within nature areas (t = 18.6, p = 0.001; t = 5.48, p = 0.001) and riparian forests (t = 21.4, p = 0.001; t = 13.8, p = 0.001). No significant differences were found between eastern and western nature areas (t = 1.06, p = 0.338; t = −1.55, p = 0.181) while within riparian forests, only species diversity differed significantly (t = 2.66, p = 0.011). However, tree species abundance differed significantly between nature areas and riparian forests (t = −2.97, p = 0.01) with riparian forests having higher abundance of native trees compared to nature areas and with significant abundance of native trees compared to non-native trees (t = 14, p = 0.001). These findings emphasize the conservation of Arusha’s greenbelts, aligning with SDGs 3 (well-being), 6 (water quality), 11 (sustainable cities) and 15 (ecosystem conservation).

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070406

Authors: Mihnea Cristian Popa Diana Stoica Daniel Constantin Diaconu Daniel Peptenatu

The proliferation of gambling infrastructure within the urban environment has emerged as a significant public health concern, particularly in contexts where commercial interests intersect with the socio-economic vulnerability of resident populations. The paper investigates the spatial distribution of slot-machine gambling venues across important Romanian cities, testing the hypothesis of predatory placement. Utilizing February 2026 official licensing data from the National Office for Gambling (ONJN) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the research conducts a comprehensive geospatial accessibility analysis relative to sensitive community infrastructures. These include educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and religious sites, alongside socio-economically vulnerable residential zones. The methodology integrates network-based isochrone analysis, spatial density mapping, and proximity modeling to quantify effective accessibility within defined spatial ranges. These techniques identify high-exposure zones where dense gambling clusters intersect with protected institutional environments and marginalized populations. Results indicate a statistically significant spatial correlation between venue density and the immediate proximity of these sensitive community facilities. Furthermore, the findings provide a spatial evidence base for recent legislative shifts which empower local authorities to implement localized bans on physical gambling venues. Ultimately, this research illustrates how venue accessibility fosters urban risk landscapes, suggesting that local spatial autonomy is an essential pillar in mitigating gambling-related social harm.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070405

Authors: Yifan Zhao Guoqiang Xu Yutian Gan Guo Li

Courtyard enclosure form and façade orientation are associated with near-wall microclimatic fluctuation and autumn façade-greening dynamics. This exploratory study monitored Boston ivy at six sample points in two-sided, three-sided, and four-sided enclosures with south-, west-, and north-facing façades. Near-wall temperature and relative humidity were recorded every 5 min, and fixed-ROI time-series imagery quantified leaf color change and defoliation. Mean thermal–humidity conditions varied modestly; daily temperature range varied from 8.79 ± 2.35 to 17.90 ± 7.21 °C and daily relative humidity range from 18.46 ± 4.59% to 29.81 ± 7.38%. DI50 occurred from 20 October to 1 November and DI80 from 6 to 25 November. Spearman analysis of 60 matched daily observations showed stronger associations of mean thermal–humidity indicators than fluctuation indicators with phenological indicators. RMedian correlated positively with LCR (ρ = 0.70), while DI correlated negatively with RMedian and Color Index (ρ = −0.50 and −0.53). Because enclosure form and façade orientation were partly coupled, their effects could not be separated. Overall, sample points differed more clearly in thermal–humidity fluctuation than in mean conditions, while phenological differences reflected enclosure form, façade orientation, near-wall thermal–humidity conditions, and exposure conditions.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070403

Authors: Yutaka Iwasaki Takuro Kobashi Yukari Fuchigami Keishiro Hara

Achieving carbon neutrality toward 2050 requires not only the adoption of renewable energy technologies but also long-term planning based on their gradual integration into urban systems. This study presents a novel scenario-based framework that quantifies year-by-year impacts of deploying rooftop photovoltaics (PVs), electric vehicles (EVs), and Vehicle to Home (V2H) systems from 2018 through 2050. Five key dimensions are assessed: CO2 emission reduction, cost savings, self-consumption, energy sufficiency, and self-sufficiency. Using Suita City, Japan, as a case study, we analyzed two diffusion scenarios, “baseline (current growth case)” and “accelerated deployment case”. The results indicate that despite high initial investment, an accelerated scenario can achieve up to a 60% CO2 emission reduction and over 25% cost savings by 2050. Importantly, the integrated deployment of PVs, EVs, and V2H surpasses PV-only systems in overall effectiveness from around 2035 onward. By capturing the dynamic evolution of technology impacts over time, this study provides unique and actionable insights for designing data-driven policies supporting long-term urban decarbonization.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070404

Authors: Ahyahudin Sodri Mauliza Fatwa Yusdian Haruki Agustina Nuraeni Nuraeni Riska Nur Azizah

The increasing frequency of climate change and extreme weather makes the issue of urban flood vulnerability an important one. Flood disaster mitigation efforts have progressed rapidly with the utilization of technology in flood risk assessment and community preparedness. However, there is still a gap between technology and community engagement in preparedness. This study was conducted to analyze the trend of technology-based urban flood vulnerability and community preparedness integration. The study used bibliometric methods to see research trends and a systematic review of Scopus data with Biblioshiny, VOSviewer, and Convidence to identify relevant research articles. Trends in urban flood vulnerability show an increasing use of advanced technologies such as multivariate LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) artificial neural networks, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), GIS (Geographic Information System), and blockchain for flood risk assessment. There are gaps in community engagement and preparedness, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach that combines technology with community-based strategies. A balance between technology implementation and community engagement is needed to improve community preparedness and safeguard water security in flood-prone urban areas. The development of an urban flood vulnerability index can bridge the technology gap with standardized community engagement. All the articles in the study contribute greatly to the changes and improvements in flood disaster mitigation, as well as to the role of technology and preparedness. The gap between technology and community engagement in preparedness requires an urban flood vulnerability index with comprehensive strategies.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070402

Authors: Yan Gu Yifei Hou Yudie Zhang Ruoxi Zhang Lemin Zhang

Innovation-oriented productive forces are increasingly concentrated in cities, but the multiscale mechanisms through which the built environment shapes these forces remain insufficiently understood. This study develops a spatial analytical framework linking firm-level new quality productive forces (NQPF) to fine-grained urban spatial structures. Using 89 A-share listed firms in the Xiamen–Zhangzhou–Quanzhou (XZQ) urban agglomeration, we first construct an entropy-weighted NQPF index from eleven financial indicators related to R&D human capital, advanced capital stock, intangible assets, and operational efficiency. Kernel density estimation is then used to transform discrete firm-level NQPF values into a continuous 600 m × 600 m grid surface as the dependent variable. On the explanatory side, 27 built-environment variables are organized into an integrated indicator system covering urban form, natural conditions, jobs–housing structure, and service infrastructures. We combine cross-validated recursive feature elimination (RFE-CV) with multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) to construct two model specifications: a 7-variable parsimonious subset and a 14-variable highest-performing subset. This dual-subset design allows us to distinguish core structural drivers from more context-dependent spatial mechanisms. The results reveal three mechanisms. First, ecological adaptation reflects the scale-dependent enabling and constraining effects of infrastructure and natural-foundation variables. Second, structural coordination shows that mature cores may experience crowding-related suppression when functional and institutional resources become spatially mismatched. Third, boundary activation indicates that transport, public-service, and leisure-related facilities can activate peripheral and cross-jurisdictional interface zones when supported by network connectivity and institutional coordination. By coupling variable-specific bandwidths with local coefficients, this study advances the analysis of spatial heterogeneity and provides evidence for differentiated, innovation-oriented urban regeneration.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070401

Authors: Nijolė Batarlienė Inesa Pevcevič

This study investigates the key drivers and barriers influencing the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in urban freight logistics, using Lithuania as a case study. An integrated methodological framework combining Delphi, Fuzzy logic, DEMATEL, and System Dynamics is applied to identify critical factors and analyse their interdependencies. Four main drivers are identified: infrastructure, acquisition costs, technological development, and policy measures. Expert evaluations are transformed into fuzzy values to quantify factor importance, which are then incorporated into a dynamic simulation model to assess EV adoption and CO2 emission trends. In addition to baseline scenarios, extreme scenario analysis is conducted to evaluate system sensitivity to economic, technological, and policy changes. The results reveal strong nonlinear relationships between factors and highlight the importance of their balanced development. The findings suggest that rapid EV adoption in urban logistics requires a coordinated approach integrating infrastructure expansion, financial incentives, technological progress, and policy support. The study provides practical insights for policymakers and logistics companies aiming to accelerate sustainable urban transport transitions.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070400

Authors: Francesco La Vigna Saverio Romeo Mauro Bonasera Maria Paola Campolunghi Gianluigi Di Paola Paolo Maria Guarino Gabriele Leoni Raffaele Proietti

Urban areas are increasingly affected by geological and climate-driven processes that influence their safety, functionality, and long-term resilience. Conventional sustainability indicators mainly focus on anthropogenic impacts on the environment, while the role of subsurface conditions and physical processes shaping urban vulnerability remains underrepresented. To address this gap, the Urban Geo-climate Footprint (UGF) introduced an inverse perspective, assessing how geological and climatic factors exert pressure on urban systems. The methodology is based on the classification of geological effects into five drivers: Geology, Deep Geological Processes, Surface Processes, Exogenous and Climatic Processes, and Subsurface Anthropogenic Pressure. These drivers, within the proposed framework, are articulated into 22 parameters evaluated using public datasets and expert judgment. These parameters are combined into a synthetic, standardised, reproducible and comparable index, the UGF Score Index (UGF-SI), ranging from 0 to >500 which enables direct comparison across cities and contexts. The application to 21 Italian cities highlights distinct spatial patterns, dominant drivers, and groups of cities facing similar geo-climatic challenges. The UGF framework constitutes a significant advancement in urban geoscience, supporting urban planning, risk awareness, and climate adaptation strategies by enhancing the understanding of subsurface-related pressures and promoting informed decision making.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070399

Authors: Melania Petrea Carmen Gheorghe Adrian Soica

Accessibility in bus-based public transport is essential for inclusive and sustainable urban mobility, yet bus stops and stations are often overlooked compared with vehicle modernization and network planning. This study presents a bibliometric and thematic review of research (2020–2026) on accessibility in bus stop and station infrastructure across European cities. Literature indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection was analyzed using thematic synthesis supported by bibliometric network analysis. A total of 685 publications were examined to identify research trends, barriers, regional differences, assessment methods, and planning implications. The findings show that accessibility is a multidimensional concept shaped by physical design, information systems, user experience, first- and last-mile connectivity, and governance capacity. Persistent barriers include poor boarding interfaces, inadequate maintenance, weak wayfinding, safety concerns, and uneven implementation of accessibility standards. The reviewed studies suggest that evidence of stronger integration and higher user satisfaction is more frequently reported in Northern and some Western European contexts, whereas rural and smaller cities often face lower service accessibility. Emerging topics include real-time passenger information, crowding management, electric buses, and smart mobility technologies. The review concludes that bus stops and stations should be treated as strategic mobility assets. Integrated planning, participatory design, and territorially differentiated policy support are essential to advance inclusive bus-based public transport across Europe.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070398

Authors: Hanseon Joo Ook Lee

Urban flood detection requires visual examples of flooded streets and alleys, but such event-state images are difficult to collect at scale. This study examines whether sparse real-image training sets can be strengthened using text-prompt-only AI-generated virtual imagery for ground-level flood detection in flood-prone urban areas. Building on AlleyFloodNet, the generated images were used only as condition-specific training augmentation, while validation and testing were conducted exclusively on real images. Across eight ImageNet-pretrained architectures and three random seeds, the results show that virtual imagery is not a substitute for real flood observations. When virtual images dominated the training set, performance declined. However, when a sufficient real-image anchor was available, virtual augmentation improved the highest observed fixed-test performance. The strongest mixed-condition result was obtained by EfficientNet-B2 under Real30_Aug70, reaching 91.00% accuracy, 89.48% flooded-class recall, and 90.79% macro-F1. These findings suggest that prompt-only virtual imagery can help mitigate real-image scarcity in selected training conditions, but its benefit depends on the real-to-virtual composition and model architecture.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070397

Authors: Chengcheng Wang Jia Li Chenxi Li Yunfan Zhang Yufeng Bi Zetao Wei Wenhui Dong Qiang Fu

To validate the validity of a driving simulation platform, this study constructs a dual dataset using field data and driving simulation experiments on an urban arterial road. Comprehensive validation is conducted from both subjective perception and objective quantification perspectives. Subjectively, questionnaires assessed simulation fidelity, driving workload, and physiological symptoms. Objectively, five core car-following indicators (speed, acceleration, relative speed, headway, and time headway) were analyzed using dynamic time warping and statistical methods. The results demonstrate that the simulated scenarios exhibit high subjective fidelity, reasonable task loads, and controllable motion sickness risks. Objectively, dynamic time warping confirms strong temporal pattern similarity, with waveform consistency proportions across core indicators ranging from 91.67% to 100.0%. Macroscopically, satisfactory relative aggregate similarity is demonstrated, with relative difference between means consistently constrained within a 20% threshold. However, strict absolute behavioral validity is unsupported due to significant statistical differences in sequence means, establishing clear boundary constraints for trend replication. It is speculated that systematic biases are primarily related to differences in risk perception within virtual environments.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070396

Authors: Bhuvana Nanaiah Dirk Ahlers

Innovation districts have emerged as a prominent urban strategy to catalyse knowledge-based development and economic growth. Yet their contribution to sustainability and an understanding of what they entail beyond economic growth remains underexplored. This paper proposes a conceptual framework rooted in urban monitoring to identify and synthesise the contributions of innovation districts (or similar development strategies) into the city’s sustainable development. Specifically, it targets the initial processes of intention and objective setting, where different and conflicting policies overlap to define definite city-level objectives. Using Oslo as a single embedded case study, the paper further proposes a methodology for identifying and localising urban sustainability indicators (USIs) based on the city’s three innovation districts: Oslo Science City, Hovinbyen Circular Oslo, and Punkt Oslo. This methodology integrates global frameworks, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Urban Monitoring Framework, with local priorities and stakeholder perspectives through a combined top-down and bottom-up approach. The process resulted in a set of 40 indicators across five sustainability domains—social, environmental, economic, cultural, and governance—revealing governance as a critical enabler for sustainable implementation. While most indicators stem from theoretical conceptions of innovation districts, governance indicators rather reflect local experiences and institutional dynamics.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070395

Authors: Rana N. Jawarneh Madhavi Indraganti Sultana F. Al-Nabet Abdulrahman H. Al-Mana Aamna Azad

Urban heat intensification is an increasing concern in rapidly urbanizing arid cities, where extreme climatic conditions intersect with expansive urban growth. This study examines the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban thermal patterns in the Doha metropolitan region, Qatar, by integrating multi-season remote sensing with urban morphological analysis. Seasonal composites of land surface temperature (LST), Urban Heat Island (UHI) intensity, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were derived from Landsat 8–9 Collection 2 Level-2 imagery across eight seasons from Spring 2024 to Winter 2026. Urban form was characterized using Local Climate Zones (LCZs) and quantified through class-level landscape metrics, i.e., Largest Patch Index (LPI), Number of Patches (NP), and CLUMPY. The results showed a pronounced seasonal variability, with LST ranging from approximately 12.5 °C in winter to 61.3 °C in summer, and intra-urban UHI exceeding 10 °C during peak conditions. The bare soil/sand, with relative coverage of 52.84% and LPI of 25.45%, and the large low-rise, with relative coverage of 38.60% and LPI of 14.70%, typologies dominate the landscape, forming highly aggregated spatial structures, while vegetation cover remained minimal. Weak negative relationships between NDVI and thermal indicators revealed that vegetation alone had limited explanatory power. In contrast, LCZ-based analysis revealed a better thermal differentiation across urban typologies, with compact forms associated with higher thermal intensities. These findings highlight the dominant role of urban morphology and spatial configuration in shaping thermal patterns and support the need for morphology-sensitive planning strategies in arid urban environments.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070394

Authors: Juan Antonio Marco Montes De Oca Tomás García Martín Marta Serrano Pérez

Sustainability of urban logistics or last-mile logistics (LML) has been extensively studied from the perspective of experts and professionals whose objectives and interests have been closely linked to their organisations. For this reason, the conclusions drawn from these studies have had an inherent bias that is difficult to overlook. The aim of this study is to identify perceived research priorities in sustainable urban logistics through an innovative approach based on weightings established by a ‘university community’. To carry out this study, a hybrid multi-criteria model is proposed, used to weight twelve criteria employed to compare fourteen categories grouping the lines of research in LML. The main contributions of this work have therefore been: to provide an atypical perspective grounded in the ‘university community’, and to design a hybrid multi-criteria model capable of efficiently forecasting which perceived research priorities will be most relevant in the future in LML. The most significant conclusions of this study highlight the strong value that the ‘university community’ assigns to research areas in LML focused on collaborative workstreams among stakeholders. This is understood as a systemic and strategic approach grounded in the implementation of urban logistics infrastructures that enhance process efficiency through regulatory and collaborative mechanisms aimed at increasing the sustainability of LML.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070393

Authors: Víctor M. Cantero Solís Fernando Vegas López-Manzanares Camilla Mileto Valentina Cristini Javier Orozco Messana

The 15 min city offers a framework for sustainable urban environments. However, its application in historic centres faces challenges such as tourist pressure and heritage fragility. This paper explores cultural heritage as a strategic resource for urban resilience within the European ENACT-15 mC project. The methodology applies four lines of research—socio-economic diagnosis, educational innovation, participatory action research, and digital tool implementation—to the historic centre of Valencia. The study involved 42 students from architecture, commerce and tourism programmes in documenting a selected sample of historic commercial establishments protected by the Special Protection Plan of Ciutat Vella (PEP 2020), while community workshops recruited 30 stakeholders representing local associations, businesses and heritage-related actors to analyse urban conflicts and functional transformation. Results show that integrating educational and participatory approaches facilitates the generation of situated knowledge and social co-responsibility. The technical documentation and diagnostic reports produced serve as empirical evidence of how heritage can be monitored and protected in urban settings under tension. The study concludes that cultural heritage provides a vital social infrastructure for building resilient communities. By bridging the gap between academic research and local agency through digital and participatory mapping, this integrated model provides adaptive intervention strategies that balance tourism demands with the preservation of everyday local life and the proximity economy in heritage-rich environments.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070392

Authors: Xiaomeng Dong Tianyu Shen Qiwei Zhang Di Yang Xianfeng Yang Mansoureh Jeihani

Despite occupying essential roles in healthcare, warehouses, and manufacturing, night shift workers remain underserved by transportation systems designed around standard daytime schedules. Using the Baltimore Metropolitan Area as a case study, this study provides an in-depth examination of night shift workers’ travel behavior and commute wellbeing. Survey data on commute choices, commute durations, travel costs, and perceived perspectives were collected from workers employed in night shift-based occupations. Structural equation modeling was then used to examine the relationships between travel behavior and perceived inconvenience by constructing a latent variable of commute burden. The results show that longer commute times and reliance on public transit are significant indicators of commute burden among this population. To further investigate why commute burden is associated with public transit, we conducted spatial visualizations and K-means clustering based on origin-destination nighttime trips derived from anonymized mobile phone data. Land use maps and nighttime public transit networks were referenced to identify travel flows and mobility patterns between high-flow zones, revealing the need to expand nighttime transit services in those areas. These findings reflect limited transit accessibility affecting night shift workers and offer actionable insights for nighttime transit planning and public service improvements in similar metropolitan contexts.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070391

Authors: Farnaz Eskandari Ahmad Khalili Mostafa Behzadfar Momen Foadmarashi Francisco Serdoura

Previous studies examining the link between urban health and land use have predominantly relied on qualitative or descriptive approaches, lacking comprehensive quantitative frameworks capable of systematically identifying influential factors and prioritizing interventions. This research introduces a multi-method analytical framework combining qualitative content analysis, Factor Analysis, and Importance–Performance Map Analysis (IPMA). In the first phase, MAXQDA was used to conduct qualitative content analysis and identify urban health indicators most influenced by land use. These indicators were assessed through a structured questionnaire comprising 41 items, distributed among residents of three neighborhood units within Phase 2 of Parand New Town, a rapidly growing planned settlement in the Tehran Metropolitan Area, with a minimum residency requirement of five years to ensure data reliability. Factor Analysis was employed to reduce the broader set of indicators into a smaller number of latent constructs, each reflecting a distinct dimension and forming the basis for the composite Urban Health Index. Subsequently, IPMA was applied to evaluate the importance and performance of each indicator within individual neighborhoods, enabling the identification of local intervention priorities. The findings show a substantial influence of the land use system on urban health. The second neighborhood unit, characterized by superior accessibility and a broader range of land uses, achieved the highest score of 3.062. This analytical framework offers urban planners a replicable and practical tool for identifying and prioritizing interventions that promote health-oriented and sustainable urban development.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070390

Authors: Ismail Robbani Suwhan Yee Quang Hoai Le Yonghan Ahn

Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) intensify extreme heat, raise energy demand, and risk citizen thermal comfort in densely built cities. However, spatially detailed, scenario-differentiated estimates of future UHI intensity are still limited for complex coastal mountainous cities. This study set out to forecast UHI intensity variations in Busan, South Korea, under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. Daily temperatures from 19 automatic weather stations (2010–2014) were spatially interpolated using Empirical Bayesian Kriging Regression (EBKR), which included elevation and coastline distance variables. Among the 16 CMIP6 Global Climate Models (GCMs) tested, CNRM-CM6-1 (r = 0.902, RMSE = 4.937 °C) was chosen and bias-corrected using Empirical Quantile Mapping (EQM). The results reveal that mean maximum UHI intensity rises gradually, with ΔUHI (compared with the 2010–2014 baseline of 0.90 °C) reaching +7.03 °C (SSP2-4.5) and +9.60 °C (SSP5-8.5) in the far future, roughly 1.43 times more under the high-emission scenario. Summer through autumn has a UHI intensity increase, whereas long-term warming concentrates in Busan’s urban core. These findings inform targeted urban heat adaptation strategies, prioritizing green infrastructure, cool urban surfaces, and energy-resilient city planning to protect human well-being.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070388

Authors: Miroslava Farkas Smitkova David Kompan Florinda F. Martins

Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 requires strategic shifts in national energy portfolios tailored to specific geographical and socio-political conditions. This study examines the divergent low-carbon trajectories of Portugal, characterized by variable renewable integration, and Slovakia, defined by a robust nuclear baseload, through the perspectives of STEM students who will lead the energy transition. The rationale for comparing these two countries lies in their contrasting low-carbon strategies, which provide a natural setting for examining how divergent national energy systems shape the attitudes of a technically educated cohort largely overlooked in previous research yet responsible for implementing the transition. Data were collected through an online survey (n = 133) at technical universities in Bratislava and Porto. Results indicate regional disparities in household energy mixes, notably higher wood burning in Slovakia (12%) than Portugal (<1%). Slovak respondents reported higher residential solar adoption (63.6% of solar users), possibly associated with higher homeownership (93%) and energy-crisis pressures, despite Portugal’s superior solar irradiance. Although limited by sample size, this pilot assessment shows that future engineers navigate trade-offs between sustainability and economic viability and view transition costs largely as a governmental responsibility. These findings inform the alignment of urban energy policies with the next generation’s readiness.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070389

Authors: Prajakta Mali Pramod Kumar Asfa Siddiqui Vaibhav Garg

Vegetation-impervious surface-soil (V-I-S) fractions offer a continuous sub-pixel representation of urban surface heterogeneity. In this study, the influence of urban surface characteristics represented through V-I-S fractions on hydrological processes is analyzed at decadal intervals, i.e., 2000, 2010, 2020, and the projected year 2030 for the Mula–Mutha river catchment, Maharashtra, India. Pune city, as a major urban centre in this region, is experiencing significant changes in land surface characteristics over time, which have direct implications for its hydrology. The analysis uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model these changes and their effects on water resources. Results show that the urban area has increased from 14% (2000) to 25% (2020), with projections indicating a further rise to 34% (2030). Such transitions yielded an increase in surface runoff from 47% (2000) to 53% (2020) and projected to reach 54% (2030). Groundwater recharge has declined from 10% to 6% and is expected to fall to 4% by 2030. Model validation using discharge data at Mirawadi outlet yielded a coefficient of determination of 0.72 using land use/land cover (LULC) data and 0.79 for simulations based on runoff Curve Number (CN) derived from V-I-S fractions, indicating the improved model performance. This study presents a novel framework, which incorporates remote sensing-derived V-I-S fractions to assess the spatiotemporal impact of urban expansion on water balance components.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070387

Authors: Lei Ning Yue Niu Yue Meng Yuan Li Qing Mo

Network development level and inequality level within urban agglomerations profoundly shape regional sustainability and global competitiveness. Existing studies predominantly focus on economic scale, geographic proximity, and static cross-sectional data analysis, often lacking systematic consideration of people’s wellbeing, network connectivity, and dynamic evolutionary processes. Furthermore, insufficient attention has been paid to the intrinsic connection between network development and inequality levels. Addressing this gap, this study systematically investigates the network development level, inequality level, and the correlation mechanisms between them, focusing on six national-level urban agglomerations located in China’s Yangtze River and Yellow River basins. Key findings include the following: (1) The overall connectivity efficiency of development networks within urban agglomerations continues to improve, yet the disparity in network status among node cities has gradually widened. The network centrality of core cities initially strengthens and then weakens. (2) Urban agglomerations with relatively lagging economic development often exhibit greater internal disparities in development momentum. Wealth distribution inequality within agglomerations has gradually eased, while the urban–rural development gap shows a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. Conversely, social welfare distribution inequality has intensified overall. (3) Network indicators centering on centrality significantly contribute to the imbalance in regional wealth distribution. As social welfare distribution inequality increases, the influence of network centrality characteristics on it strengthens. (4) The impact of regional network development level on inequality level is hierarchical and directional. Increasing network density, average distance, and degree of association helps mitigate wealth distribution imbalance, whereas increasing network density and centrality may exacerbate regional development inequality. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence and theoretical support for policy-making of sustainable development in urban agglomerations, and enriches the theoretical connotation of regional balanced development.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070386

Authors: Hainan Wu Yaling Zhu Xiaomei Guo Dian Song

The crucial role of scientific and technological talent agglomeration in promoting urban green development is widely recognized, yet its mechanisms and contextual conditions remain insufficiently explored. Using panel data for 284 prefecture-level cities in China over the period 2004–2019, this study examines the impact of scientific and technological talent agglomeration on green total factor productivity. The results show that such agglomeration significantly enhances urban green total factor productivity. Factor mobility plays a mediating role, through which scientific and technological talent agglomeration improves the efficiency of resource allocation, thereby enhancing green total factor productivity. Furthermore, the digital economy strengthens the impact of scientific and technological talent agglomeration on green total factor productivity, and this moderating effect is more pronounced in cities with higher levels of digital development. This study enriches the literature on talent agglomeration by integrating perspectives on green development and the digital economy and provides empirical evidence to support high-quality urban green growth.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070385

Authors: Felipe Teixeira Dias Ángel Rodríguez-Pallas Priscila Cembranel André Riani Costa Perinotto

This exploratory study examines the heterogeneous spatial evolution of cities in a fragmented non-metropolitan region of Southern Brazil and develops an original functional-symbolic typological framework that integrates functional performance and symbolic production in the classification of cities. Grounded in the theoretical contributions of Lefebvre, Santos, and Corrêa, the framework was designed by the authors to simultaneously incorporate economic, territorial, cultural, and identity-related dimensions that are typically analysed separately in conventional urban typologies. The research adopts a qualitative and inductive approach to analyse secondary data from municipalities in the state of Santa Catarina. Rather than treating urbanisation as a homogeneous process, the study conceptualises urban typologies as analytical devices capable of revealing differentiated urban trajectories, uneven capacities of territorial articulation, and distinct modes of governance in non-metropolitan contexts. The findings show that cities with similar demographic scales perform diverse social, cultural, and economic roles shaped by historically and symbolically produced spatial relations. Five urban typologies were identified: Multifunctional Metropolises, Industrial Regional Capitals, Agroindustrial Cities, Cultural Tourist Cities, and Local Centres of Basic Function. The results demonstrate that urban centrality in non-metropolitan regions is not determined solely by economic performance or demographic scale, but also by symbolic attributes such as cultural heritage, territorial identities, festivals, and religious functions. By integrating material and symbolic dimensions within a single analytical structure, the proposed framework advances the understanding of fragmented urban systems, contributes to contemporary debates on non-metropolitan urbanisation and territorial governance, and offers a transferable approach for the analysis of urban diversity beyond the Brazilian context. The findings also provide practical implications for regional planning and public policy by highlighting the role of symbolic production in shaping territorial organisation and regional influence.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070382

Authors: Giorgia Tucci

Over the past fifty years, urban and rural spaces have been reshaped by global sustainability policies, digital innovation, and emerging socio-ecological needs. This article investigates the convergence of agro-urban planning strategies, Smart City infrastructures, and adaptive governance models, proposing an integrated agro-urban paradigm for sustainable territorial transformation. Drawing on a literature review and comparative analysis of international case studies—including Toronto, Milan, and Woven City—the research develops a triadic interpretative framework based on worldview, program, and faith. The study identifies AgroCities as systems centered on food sovereignty and ecological resilience, Smart Cities as efficiency-driven digital ecosystems, and Adaptive Cities as flexible, human-centered responses to complexity. Findings suggest that integrating food systems, technological innovation, and participatory governance enhances urban resilience and sustainability across scales. The article concludes by advocating for multi-scalar planning tools, cross-sectoral policies, and civic engagement to support the transition toward inclusive and regenerative cities. This framework offers a theoretical and operational contribution to reimagining urban planning in line with the principles of Smart Land and adaptive urbanism.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070384

Authors: Inbal Bentsiony Ulrich Jacov Becker Yodan Rofé

Contemporary zoning-driven planning has been associated with traffic hazards, pollution and noise, loss of human scale and public space, socio-spatial separation, and rigid development patterns that impede incremental renewal. In response, the New Urbanism movement promotes traditional urbanism, with Form-Based Codes (FBCs) that regulate urban form and spatial structure, as a central tool. However, FBC practice remains concentrated in North America, and evidence from other contexts is limited. This study examines whether and how FBCs can be implemented within a hierarchical, centralized planning system. Using an exploratory case study approach, we analyzed an approved urban renewal plan for Ramat Verber in Petah Tikva, Israel. The study combines plan analysis, a conceptual FBC simulation, and expert consultations, with findings derived through an inductive analysis of implementation barriers. The FBC simulation showed that goals could be translated into more effective actionable provisions, whereas the statutory plan diluted objectives between vision and implementation. Identified barriers clustered into (1) legal and institutional constraints, (2) social and professional norms, and (3) management and coordination needs. We conclude that FBCs can be advanced without legislative change through municipal policy-level codes that standardize subsequent statutory local plans, supported by clear conversion protocols and existing urban renewal governance mechanisms.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070381

Authors: Mario Ćosić Davor Sumpor Julijan Jurak Sandro Tokić

Older primary schools in Croatia are frequently located in densely built older settlement cores. Micro-locations surrounding school entrances are often not the result of prior urban or traffic planning; instead, they are retroactively managed through infrastructure and signalling interventions. Pupils participate in traffic as pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooter users, or passengers in cars, school buses, or public buses. The proposed integrated research approach includes: an online survey of pupils’ travel behaviour, systematic safety assessments of entrance micro-locations using the iRAP methodology, as well as field measurements and in-depth analysis of vehicle speeds, traffic flow and structure. For classes organised in two shifts, an online survey of parents (for classroom-based education) and pupils (for subject-based education) covered 56% of the pupil population. Because pupils’ travel mode is the factor most susceptible to influence through infrastructure improvements, statistical analysis was conducted using the χ2-test for the purpose of investigating relationships with the other three traffic-relevant determinants: school age group, pupils’ sex, and distance from school. Approximately three-quarters of pupils live less than 2 km from the typical school. If peak vehicle traffic does not coincide with the peak of pupil arrivals and departures during the overlap of two school shifts, part of the traffic on the school-access street may be unrelated to direct school-access activities. Vehicle-type restrictions and one-way traffic operation should be considered as measures to improve pupils’ safety. The proposed groups of measures for improving pupils’ safety include: (i) educational workshops for pupils, parents and teachers; (ii) reconstruction of school entrance micro-locations; (iii) targeted interventions in the traffic environment within a 2 km perimeter.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070383

Authors: Siqing Chen

Sustainable urban transportation is fundamentally linked to public health outcomes, specifically the mitigation of fatal traffic risks under environmental stress. While stressors like adverse weather affect entire cities, traditional road safety models often assume uniform risk, thereby masking the spatial inequalities inherent in the urban fabric. This study addresses this gap by investigating the geographically heterogeneous impact of environmental stressors—including rainfall, surface moisture, and lighting conditions—on the conditional probability of fatal crash outcomes in Melbourne, Australia. Analyzing 43,075 severe crashes through a multi-stage geospatial framework (Getis-Ord Gi* and Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression), this research diagnoses how varying urban development patterns mediate the lethality of these stressors. The findings unmask a critical “threshold-crossing” pattern for wet surfaces, where risk transitions from protective to hazardous based on local infrastructure form and street geometry. Significant spatial inequalities are identified: high-density inner-urban cores and adjacent coastal corridors exhibit a heightened sensitivity to visibility failures and moisture, whereas newer industrial peripheries show stronger protective “risk compensation” effects. These results reveal a systemic mismatch between historical urban form and contemporary climate-driven public health risks. By identifying localized “lethality thresholds”, this study provides a robust evidence base for integrated planning and equitable resource allocation. It enables urban planners to move beyond generalized safety warnings toward targeted structural interventions, ensuring that sustainable transportation networks prioritize safety equity for all citizens regardless of their location within the urban environment.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070380

Authors: Arvin Fernando Kate Francisco Marielet Guillermo

This article examines how Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applied to public and shared urban transport contribute to sustainable urban mobility by synthesizing a decade of peer-reviewed research on intelligent, technology-driven public transport solutions. Using a PRISMA-based systematic literature search in Scopus for 2014–2024, followed by bibliometric analysis with VOSviewer version 1.6.21 and manual thematic content analysis of 186 selected studies, the review maps intellectual structures, implementation areas, and sustainability dimensions of ITS-enhanced public transport systems research. The results show that priority ITS applications in public transport implementation areas cluster around smart infrastructure and frameworks, AI- and data-driven mobility systems, smart public transportation, and IoT-enabled connected mobility, with a strong focus on real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, and adaptive operations. Sustainability analysis indicates that ITS applications in public transport primarily advances technology-driven sustainability, smart and sustainable urban mobility, environmental sustainability, and economic efficiency, while social sustainability and governance aspects—such as equity, accessibility, safety, and institutional capacity—are less consistently addressed. The review also highlights a highly interdisciplinary, yet thematically fragmented field with geographically concentrated evidence and limited longitudinal, real-world impact evaluations. Quantitatively, the review finds that over 90% of studies address technology-driven, smart urban mobility, environmental, or economic sustainability themes, whereas only 56.99% explicitly engage social sustainability dimensions. Overall, the study concludes that ITS applications in public transport already function as key enablers of more efficient, low-carbon, and intelligent transport systems, but calls for more integrated, context-sensitive, and human-centered frameworks that explicitly align ITS applications in public transport design, implementation, and evaluation with multidimensional sustainability goals and global sustainable mobility agendas.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070379

Authors: Giuseppe Cappelli Sofia Nardoianni Mauro D’Apuzzo Vittorio Nicolosi

The implementation of Raised Pedestrian Crossings (RPCs) is one of the most common strategies used to reduce vehicle speeds in urban areas, thereby enhancing road safety levels. The understanding of driver speed profile variability is critical for designing effective traffic-calming policies (such as Zone 30) that account for the full range of driver responses. This study analyzed 19,840 discrete speed measurements collected from 2480 unique drivers at eight longitudinal points approaching and departing an RPC, located in the city of Cassino, Italy. The model takes into account two distinct directional approaches due to the different slopes that characterize the case study road segments that converge at the RPC. To overcome the statistical bias of simple OLS models, a Linear Mixed-Effects Model (LMEM) for each direction has been implemented. This hierarchical approach correctly models the nested data structure (measurements within drivers) and quantifies the variance related to individual driver behavior. Within this LMEM approach, the aim is to evaluate how drivers decelerate and accelerate before and after the RPC. This step is crucial because understanding vehicle and driver behavior on the RPC provides the basis for implementing effective speed reduction strategies, such as the 30 km/h Zone.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070378

Authors: Amal Aldhamari Shikun Zhou

Smart city infrastructures increasingly depend on cloud platforms processing data from billions of IoT devices, managing critical urban services. With IoT connections reaching 1.3 billion globally and cloud attacks rising 75% year-over-year, security breaches threaten public safety. However, traditional AI threat detection systems operate as “black boxes,” preventing municipal stakeholders from understanding automated alerts. This paper presents an interpretable AI framework based on Model Context Protocol (MCP) that bridges automated threat detection with human-centered decision support. Using 1.9 million authentic AWS CloudTrail events, including a 1.3 million-event cryptocurrency mining campaign, we achieved 84.2% detection accuracy (96.8% on real attacks) while generating plain-language threat narratives suitable for diverse stakeholders. The Random Forest classifier with MCP layer provides real-time detection (<13 ms latency) and actionable intelligence (2.3 s explanation generation), meeting smart city operational requirements. SIEM integration enables immediate deployment in municipal Security Operations Centers. This production-ready framework demonstrates that interpretability and accuracy are complementary, not competing, objectives in smart city security.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070377

Authors: Umberto Baresi Alessio Russo

Urban green infrastructure (GI) is widely promoted for cooling, stormwater regulation, biodiversity support, and human health benefits; however, these benefits remain unevenly distributed across communities with different socio-economic status. Machine learning (ML) is increasingly used in GI planning and design through high-resolution mapping and demand and exposure modelling, enabling planners and landscape architects to explore scenarios and assess alternative solutions based on the benefits generated. However, ML risks generating or perpetuating spatial injustice through biassed training, opaque optimisation priorities, and epistemic exclusion of Indigenous and local knowledge when models are not developed and applied transparently and collaboratively. This perspective discusses recent GI and ML trends and debates to: (i) clarify how ML can support equity-oriented GI planning; (ii) identify technical and socio-economic risks; and (iii) outline ethical and governance pathways supportive of legitimate and accountable GI planning. We argue that ML should be treated as a component of socio-technical governance rather than a neutral technical tool and therefore should be applied through collaborative design and periodic re-evaluations.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070376

Authors: Ladislau Radermacher Andrei Burlacu Cristian Radeanu

Abandoned mine methane can remain active beneath post-mining cities long after mine closure, creating environmental and public-safety challenges when urban works reactivate subsurface gas-migration pathways. This study assesses methane hazard in Lupeni, Romania, where unexpected gas emissions were detected during commissioning tests for a new natural gas pipeline in August 2024. The analysis uses a monitoring database of 41 fixed points surveyed during three field campaigns (123 observations in total). Descriptive statistics showed a strongly right-skewed concentration field, with an overall mean of 5.65% vol., a median of 1% vol., and a maximum of 54% vol. Campaign-to-campaign correlations (Pearson r = 0.746–0.923) indicated short-term recurrence of hotspot behaviour over the monitored period. To translate these observations into decision-relevant risk information, a fully reproducible monitoring-driven probabilistic screening model was implemented. Consequence severity was mapped from measured methane concentration, while the probability component was derived from alert-threshold recurrence across the three campaigns using a Beta posterior and Monte Carlo resampling (50,000 iterations). The mean point-level risk was 6.97, indicating that the typical monitored location was not uniformly critical. However, a hotspot-envelope indicator defined as the 95th percentile of point-level risk across monitoring points had a mean of 19.40, and the model-derived probability that it exceeded the critical threshold of 17 was 97.6%. The findings suggest that the Lupeni hazard was localized but severe, supporting targeted monitoring, excavation control, and hotspot-focused intervention rather than generalized alarmism. More broadly, the workflow may provide a practical screening approach for other post-mining urban areas where repeated monitoring data are available but mechanistic subsurface characterization remains incomplete.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070375

Authors: Pedro Esperanço Carolina Coelho Olímpia Sobral Verónica Oliveira António Luís Amaral Carla Rodrigues

The proliferation of daphnids in secondary clarifiers of urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can compromise effluent quality and disrupt treatment stability. This study evaluated the effectiveness of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for controlling daphnid populations and assessed its influence on dormant eggs hatching. A pilot-scale oxidation ditch activated sludge system was operated under conditions simulating a full-scale WWTP. Acute toxicity tests were performed in clarified water (CW) and mixed liquor (ML) using NaOCl concentrations between 0.76 and 5 mg L−1, with mortality monitored over 96 h and LC50 values determined. In CW, concentrations ≥ 3.125 mg L−1 caused 100% mortality within 24 h (24 h LC50 = 1.75 mg L−1). In ML, toxicity was significantly reduced (24 h LC50 = 7.43 mg L−1). Statistical analysis confirmed NaOCl concentration as the main driver of mortality, with additional contributions from operational parameters such as electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, and dissolved oxygen. Hatching assays revealed that higher NaOCl concentrations and prior cold exposure (4 °C) increased ephippia hatching, reaching 40% under combined conditions. Although NaOCl effectively inhibits active organisms, it may stimulate dormant egg hatching, potentially sustaining populations. Optimized control strategies are therefore required to ensure effective and sustainable daphnid management in WWTPs.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070374

Authors: Nadun Bulathge Shameen Jinadasa T. Suntharavadivel Benjamin Taylor Richard Koech

With rapid urbanization, the generation of municipal solid waste is growing, placing ever-increasing pressure on cities to close, remediate and repurpose landfill sites in environmentally sustainable and climate-adaptive ways. Traditional landfill final covers such as compacted clay and geosynthetic systems are intended to limit infiltration; yet their conceptual designs often fail in performance longevity due to effects such as desiccation, settlement, root intrusion, freeze–thaw cycling and extreme rainfall. Phytocapping, or evapotranspiration/store-and-release cover technology is the use of vegetated soil profiles to provide storage for percolating rainfall, return water to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration and support biologically mediated oxidation of methane. Phytocapping is a green-inclusive nature-based climate adaptation strategy for urban landfill closure. This study explores hydrological performance, methane mitigation, ecological co-benefits, economic feasibility, climate sensitivity, monitoring requirements and regulatory barriers linked to phytocapping systems. Field evidence is strongest in Australia and the United States, especially through ACAP- and A-ACAP-style programs, while evidence from humid tropical, monsoon, freeze–thaw and low-resource urban contexts is comparatively lacking. As reported in published studies, well-designed phytocaps can result in reduced percolation compared to traditional clay caps. Reported publications also mention considerable construction-cost savings, depending on site conditions and design assumptions. Methane-related outcomes vary by measurement method and site context, with studies reporting surface flux reductions, methane oxidation and landfill gas attenuation as distinct performance indicators. These advantages are counter-balanced by design uncertainties that vary from site to site, limited long-term monitoring data, climate transferability concerns, and regulatory systems still firmly anchored in prescriptive low-permeability barriers. This review proposes a policy-oriented analytical framework that bridges the gap between technical performance evidence, urban co-benefits, staged monitoring and performance-based landfill closure regulation. As such, phytocapping should be considered not as a general-purpose substitute for engineered covers, but as a climate-responsive nature-based solution that can complement urban waste servicing infrastructure, ecological restoration and adaptive governance of landfills when properly designed, monitored and regulated.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070373

Authors: István Waltner Gábor Halupka Tibor Rácz Malek Abidli Csaba Bozán László Bozó Erika Michéli

While the effects of urbanization are widely studied, the effects of soil sealing, particularly in the case of Hungary, have only received limited attention in recent years. Our study aimed at understanding the underutilized capacity of urban soils at the national level. We have applied a 20 m resolution, spatially explicit daily water balance-based methodology to calculate the potential water dynamics for the top 75 cm of the soils currently covered by urban fabric in Hungary, for the time period of 1971–2024. We aimed to utilize primarily publicly available data and open-source software to support further use and development. Our results indicated that these (currently sealed) soil surfaces could allow between 0.14 and 0.29 km3 of water to infiltrate into the soil, equaling about 7% of the estimated annual water withdrawal in Hungary. The on-site evaporation from these surfaces would produce about 400 PJ of total cooling service annually, corresponding to an average of 145 MJ/m2. Our findings highlighted the water storage potential of soils in Hungary, particularly in urban areas, supporting the future application of nature-based solutions and blue-green infrastructure.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070372

Authors: Bright Nkrumah

Despite the plethora of literature on urban agriculture (UA), an analysis of the reasons why many urban residents in Africa rarely engage in the practice remains incipient. This review examines the irony between large arable land and persistent hunger in African cities. It was inspired by the rising food insecurity driven by the heavy reliance on market-based food, high poverty, and rapid urbanization. The study conducts a systematic review to clarify the debate on why, in the midst of these setbacks, a disproportionate percentage of urban residents do not produce their own food. Through the PRISMA method and five inclusion benchmarks, the paper identified 38 peer-reviewed book chapters and journal articles that provide the underlying rationale for why UA is not prevalent in African cities. The paper found economic, environmental, governance, and prevailing sociocultural conditions as primary barriers. To that end, it suggests avenues for empowering urban residents to transition from simply being consumers to producers. It concludes by identifying the limitations of the paper and new lines of study that ought to be conducted to fully realize the potential of UA across the continent.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070371

Authors: Yasmany García-Ramírez Xavier Merino-Vivanco Fabián Díaz-Muñoz

Parking management has become an increasingly important challenge in rapidly growing urban areas, yet evidence from intermediate Latin American cities remains scarce. This study analyzes parking choice behavior across Ecuadorian cities using a national stated preference (SP) experiment validated through revealed preference (RP) data and estimated via discrete choice models. Data were collected between 1 April and 3 May 2026 from 2150 active drivers across 12 cities spanning the Coast, Highlands, and Amazon regions. Multinomial Logit (MNL) and Mixed Logit (MIXL) models were estimated to evaluate the effects of parking cost, walking distance, search time, security, and surveillance on parking decisions. Results showed that all three cost-related attributes significantly reduced parking utility, while security improvements increased the probability of selecting formal parking alternatives. The MIXL model outperformed MNL specifications (ΔAIC = 211.84), revealing significant unobserved heterogeneity in cost (SD = 0.45) and security preferences (SD = 0.29). Willingness-to-pay estimates reached USD 0.64 per 100 m reduction in walking distance and USD 0.69 per 10-min reduction in search time, with substantial inter-city variability. Despite low current adoption (18.4%), willingness to use digital reservation systems exceeded 75% across income groups. The findings underscore the need for locally calibrated, context-sensitive parking policies and support differentiated smart parking strategies in developing urban systems.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070370

Authors: Adolfo Hernández-Moreno Violeta Mugica-Álvarez

Cross-state air pollution can degrade air quality in regions surrounding urban areas. However, assessing health impacts and economic costs requires quantifying annual pollutant transport. This type of annual assessment poses significant technical challenges, including the need to differentiate between external and local pollution, which have different spatial distributions; the large number of required air quality simulations; and the extensive post-processing of results. The Mexico City Metropolitan Area is located within the most polluted airshed in the country and exports large quantities of atmospheric pollutants to neighboring airsheds; however, until now, the annual magnitude of the impact on the population and its associated costs had not been quantified. This paper presents the estimation of potentially avoidable premature mortality and the annual economic cost associated with importing PM2.5 from the Mexico City Metropolitan Area into the metropolitan areas of Toluca and Cuernavaca. These estimates are based on 8640 simulations of air quality using the Hysplit 5.3.0 model, corresponding to each hour of 360 days in one year. Geoprocessing tools specifically designed in ArcGIS 10.4 were used to automate the calculations of PM2.5 mass exchange, and the premature mortality and health costs were calculated using the BenMap-CE 1.5.0.4 program. Results indicate that the export of PM2.5 from the Mexico City Metropolitan Area in 2018 may have resulted in 19,473 potentially avoidable premature deaths in the two recipient metropolitan areas. This impact could represent an annual economic cost of $12,197 million for the Toluca Valley Metropolitan Area and $4140 million for the Cuernavaca Metropolitan Area.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070369

Authors: Argyro Anna Kanelli Charalampia Greka Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi

Blue spaces (BS) are increasingly recognized for their potential to support mental health and well-being, yet the specific role of physical activity (PA) within these environments remains underexplored. This narrative review aimed to synthesize empirical evidence on the relationship between different types and intensities of PA in BS and mental health outcomes. Twenty studies published since 2010 were included, selected based on validated psychological measures and clearly reported PA types. Literature research in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus was conducted, and methodological quality was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) tool. Data extraction captured study characteristics, PA type and intensity (categorized according to the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, where no direct measurements were taken), and mental health outcomes. The results indicate that PA in BS is generally associated with improved psychological well-being. Light-intensity activities showed consistent positive effects on restorative and affective outcomes, while moderate- to vigorous intensity activities demonstrated variable results. Mechanisms underlying these benefits appear multifactorial, including neurobiological responses, social interactions, and cultural attachment to water. These findings underscore the contribution of both the type and intensity of PA in BS to mental health outcomes.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070368

Authors: Ivan Bešlić Timea Bezdan Gordana Jovanović Silvije Davila Gordana Pehnec Snježana Herceg Romanić Andreja Stojić Mirjana Perišić

Benzene is a carcinogenic urban volatile organic compound whose variability reflects interactions among emissions, atmospheric chemistry, and meteorology. We quantified relationships between hourly benzene concentrations and O3, CO, SO2, NO2, and more than twenty meteorological predictors using regulatory air-quality observations from the Ksaverska cesta urban background station in Zagreb, Croatia, complemented by NOAA GDAS meteorological data (2017–2023; n = 39,124). Metaheuristically optimized tree-ensemble models were interpreted using iterative Shapley Additive Global Importance (iSAGE), SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), and an environmental settings framework. The novelty of the study lies in integrating global predictor importance, signed local SHAP attributions, and environmental-setting classification to interpret benzene variability within recurring emission–chemistry–meteorology regimes. The best-performing Extra Trees model achieved R2 = 0.87, RMSE = 0.46 µg m−3, and MAE = 0.24 µg m−3. iSAGE identified CO (1.47), O3 (0.55), and near-surface air temperature (0.35) as the leading predictors of modeled benzene concentrations, whereas SO2 (0.18) and NO2 (0.07) had substantially lower global importance. SHAP showed a positive CO-benzene association, with relative contributions shifting from negative to positive at approximately 0.3–0.6 mg m−3; O3 contributions became predominantly negative above 30–40 µg m−3; and temperature contributions shifted from positive below 7 °C to negative across 7–12 °C. Environmental setting analysis associated the strongest benzene accumulation with stable winter conditions and the weakest accumulation with well-ventilated, photochemically active regimes. These site- and model-specific results reveal nonlinear co-pollutant and meteorological influences on urban benzene variability. Theoretically, the study advances the interpretation of urban VOC variability by linking model-based predictor attributions with physically interpretable atmospheric regimes; practically, it supports the identification of conditions favoring benzene accumulation and can inform regime-sensitive air-quality assessment and management.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070367

Authors: Jamal Al-Qawasmi Abubakar Idakwo Yaro Omar E. Al-Mahdy Yusuf A. Adenle Ziad Ashour

Place-based health (PBH) assessment tools are increasingly used to evaluate the extent to which urban environments support health and well-being. However, concerns remain regarding their consistency and ability to adequately represent the multidimensional nature of the PBH construct. Despite the growing use of such tools, few studies have systematically examined their indicator structure and coverage. This study evaluates 14 PBH assessment tools to examine their internal structure, indicator usage patterns, and coverage of PBH attributes. A total of 667 indicators were extracted from the examined tools, from which 503 unique indicators were identified and compiled into the Extensive List of Place-Health Indicators (ELPHI), comprising 16 categories and 58 subcategories. ELPHI was then used as a reference framework to conduct a multi-level coverage analysis of the examined tools. The results reveal substantial fragmentation in indicator selection, with 84% of unique indicators appearing in only one tool, indicating limited consensus regarding the attributes considered important for assessing PBH. While most tools demonstrated moderate to high comprehensiveness of coverage at the category level, performance was considerably weaker at the subcategory level. No tool achieved high representativeness of PBH subcategories, with coverage ranging from 10% to 66%. Environmental attributes generally received broader and more representative coverage than socio-economic attributes, which were frequently underrepresented or omitted. In addition, between 34% and 90% of PBH subcategories and between 6% and 75% of PBH categories were not covered by any indicator in individual tools. This study also demonstrates the utility of coverage analysis and ELPHI as a systematic framework for evaluating the content validity, consistency, and structural robustness of PBH assessment tools, and for supporting the development of more balanced and comprehensive assessment frameworks.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070365

Authors: Arvid Krüger Lena Knacker

What does it mean to bring climate adaptation and sustainability “on the ground” into a Thuringian small town that is both urban and rural? From 2021 to 2024, we conducted a cooperative research project with the municipality to investigate this. For three years, the research partners explored ways to integrate the “big” topics of climate adaptation, sustainability, public services, and demographic change into the everyday urban development processes of a small town in rural Thuringia, an area experiencing long-term population decline. The result of the project is three volumes in the ISDN series that provide initial answers, which are often derived from the combination of research and teaching. One volume focuses on energy, housing, and mobility, presenting stakeholders, projects, and research results that can be used to address these issues locally in rural-urban municipalities more broadly. Another collects findings on socio-infrastructural planning, offering a dedicated perspective on gender and youth “in the countryside”. Ultimately, all socio-infrastructural planning activities aim to support an “Urban Social Cultural Care”. This article aims to contextualize transfer-oriented research within theoretical debates on sustainability transitions, paying special attention to the opportunities available to municipalities with limited administrative resources to enhance their own scope of action.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070366

Authors: Kebei Shi Tongping Li Xuyang Li

Enhancing ecological resilience and human well-being is key to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within the framework of the Healthy China strategy, this paper treated China’s Healthy City pilot (HCP) policy as a quasi-natural experiment and systematically investigated its impact on ecological resilience, the underlying transmission mechanisms, and heterogeneity. Based on panel data from 286 prefecture-level cities spanning 2011–2023 and employing a spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) model, the empirical results showed that: Spatial correlation analysis indicated a significantly positive spatial correlation in urban ecological resilience across Chinese cities. The baseline regression results showed that the HCP policy significantly improved urban ecological resilience, with the resilience index increasing by 18.1% on average compared with non-pilot cities. The SDID results indicated that the policy generated positive spatial spillover effects on urban ecological resilience, and that policy effects were influenced by geographically neighboring cities. Mechanism tests showed that the Healthy City Pilot policy significantly promoted urban technological innovation and facilitated the transformation of the energy consumption structure, both of which played important roles in enhancing urban ecological resilience. Heterogeneity analysis revealed that the policy had stronger effects in eastern and northeastern cities than in central and western cities, and that large cities benefited more than small and medium-sized cities, mainly due to differences in regional location, development foundations, environmental governance capacity and policy implementation conditions.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070364

Authors: Pierluigi Morano Debora Anelli

Regenerating fragile historical contexts requires choices of repurposing that combine heritage protection, continuity of use and managerial feasibility, in the presence of multiple objectives and stakeholders with different preferences. This study develops and tests an MCDA-based decision-support framework for the ex-ante selection of adaptive reuse scenario applied to Craco (Italy) and Palazzo Carbone-Rigirone. Craco and Palazzo Carbone-Rigirone were selected as a critical case because they combine heritage abandonment, geomorphological fragility, cultural visibility, weak local services and the need for a feasible management model. The methodology involves: (i) defining four adaptive reuse scenarios; (ii) constructing nine criteria that integrate socio-economic impacts, safety/security, cultural attractiveness, compatibility with the property and economic–financial feasibility; (iii) elicitation of weights using a hybrid approach, combining the decision-maker’s macro priorities and the social quota derived from questionnaires using normalised indicators of satisfaction/dissatisfaction and priorities for improvement; (iv) classification using the Weighted Sum Model and TOPSIS under two normalizations (distributive and ideal) and two variants (relative and absolute). The results show convergence between methods and stability of the ranking, with a preference for the multifunctional scenario oriented towards cultural services and socialising. In the case of Craco, adaptive reuse offers advantages compared with purely conservative, passive musealization or tourism-only strategies. The study concludes that MCDA is useful as a transparent pre-selection tool and supports the alignment of local needs and institutional priorities; its robustness can be strengthened with sensitivity analyses and policy scenarios.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070363

Authors: Jake Wegmann Jane Rongerude Dan Kuhlmann Kris De Brabanter

Traditional accounts of multifamily rental property ownership have often emphasized locational factors for Residential Rental Property Owners (RRPOs). However, there are reasons to believe that the timing of when RRPOs, particularly those who are independent rather than those working on behalf of financial institutions, enter the business also has important implications for their career trajectories. This study tests three hypothesized implications of these “temporal cohort effects”. First, rising market conditions are associated with greater satisfaction, more property acquisition, and less property disposition. Second, younger RRPOs are more likely to add to and less likely to reduce their portfolios, and vice versa for older ones. Third, RRPOs at the beginning of their careers (somewhat but not entirely correlated with age) are more likely to buy and less likely to sell, and vice versa for those closer to the end. This study tests these hypotheses using a cluster of variables from the Institutional RRPO Survey (IRRPOS) collected in two waves from nine cities in the United States. It finds partial confirmation for the three hypotheses. However, RRPOs appear to value stability amidst rising markets, leading them to engage in defensive decision-making under such circumstances.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070362

Authors: Géza Tóth Tekla Szép Mohammad M. Jaber

While total solar PV capacity in Hungary was only 1 MW in 2010, this figure had grown to 7551 MW by 2024 as a result of the favorable settlement system, subsidies, and the uncertainty caused by the Russo-Ukrainian war. At that time, more than 6.4% of households were already prosumers. In our study, we focus on Hungarian districts, examining the spatial patterns of household-scale solar PV systems and the main drivers of technology adoption in 2024. We use the Theil T index to examine spatial heterogeneity and the Moran’s I statistic to test for spatial dependence. Spatial autocorrelation is further explored using maps based on Local Moran’s I and Local Geary statistics. Finally, a spatial error model is applied to identify the factors influencing the share of household-scale solar PV systems per 100 households. Our results show that the spatial error variable has the largest effect, with household education, the age and size of the building stock, population growth, and built-up area also having significant effects. This confirms the need for a spatially sensitive policy approach and for incorporating space and spatial relations in energy economic studies.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070361

Authors: Khaja Zillur Rahman Emilia Engelhardt Jens Mählmann Michael Blumberg Katy Bernhard Roland A. Müller Lucie Moeller

Water scarcity is an increasingly urgent global challenge, prompting the development of new water purification technologies that surpass conventional solutions. Decentralized greywater treatment is emerging as a viable option for enhancing water reuse in multifunctional systems that contribute to microclimate regulation, cooling, and urban climate adaptation. In this context, water-storage mats have been identified as a form of decentralized, roof-based biofilter for greywater treatment. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of newly developed, innovative, bio-based textile mats and assess their effectiveness in treating pre-treated greywater from a canteen (CGW) with a high organic content, in both laboratory- and pilot-scale experiments. The findings from the lab-scale testing revealed that the mats made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nonwoven fabric materials had the highest water storage capacity and dried out more slowly in outdoor conditions than mats made from polylactide (PLA) spunbonded fabric and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) spunbonded nonwoven fabric. The PET hydroentangled nonwoven fabric mat (PET-WS) performed better than the other sample mats in the lab-scale experiment, and also outperformed the PHA mat consistently in the pilot-scale experiment when treating CGW. Apparent reductions in the concentration of the macro-pollutant parameters were observed at the outflow of the PET-WS mat compared to the inflow (p < 0.05) at the pilot-scale. Mean concentration reductions were comparatively higher for the five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total suspended solids (TSS), with mean reductions of 64%, 54%, 39% and 60%, respectively. This indicated the superior treatment performance of the PET-WS mat compared to the PHA mat, with mean reductions of only 36%, 25%, 6%, and 32%, respectively. However, the lower E. coli counts of 1.1 and 0.5 log reduction for the PET-WS and PHA mats, respectively, indicated that an additional disinfection unit was necessary. The findings of this study may help to determine the performance, stability and reliability of using lightweight, nonwoven fabric mats to treat high-strength GW, which is currently considered as an intermediate treatment step. The study also provides recommendations for process optimization. Additional post-treatment steps are required to produce high-quality treated effluent for non-potable reuse, particularly in urban areas facing high water scarcity, provided that the relevant reuse regulations or discharge criteria are met.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070360

Authors: Ovidiu-Iulian Bunea Răzvan-Andrei Corboș Ruxandra-Irina Popescu

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly reshaping public administration, with implications for administrative efficiency, public service innovation, data-driven governance, and responsible digital transformation. This article examines AI readiness in the Romanian public sector by focusing on the balance between individual-level readiness and institutional support for AI adoption. Drawing on the Romanian dataset of the Global Artificial Intelligence Adoption Survey, the study analyzes responses from 353 public sector employees, with a main analytical focus on 290 respondents who reported using at least one AI tool at work. The analysis examines AI use intention, perceived AI work impact, individual AI competence, workplace support, organizational AI readiness, trust/ethical confidence, and risk perception. The study does not measure public service innovation directly; instead, it examines individual-level AI adoption outcomes and discusses their implications for the capacity of public institutions to support responsible public service innovation. The results show that, among Romanian public sector respondents who use AI, AI adoption outcomes are strongly associated with individual-level factors, especially perceived competence, frequency of use, positive experience, and trust in AI. By contrast, organizational AI readiness remains comparatively weaker and does not show a significant unique association with AI use intention or perceived work impact once individual competence, workplace support, trust, and practical AI exposure are included in the regression models. Within the available national sample, differences between local, regional, and national administrative levels are limited, suggesting that the gap between individual readiness and institutional support is not confined to a specific level of government. The findings suggest that individually driven AI adoption must be translated into institutional capability if AI is to support responsible public service innovation and sustainable digital transformation in the public sector.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070359

Authors: Hamza Shams Yanjun Qiu Hamid Abdrhman Adnan Yousaf Hanif Ullah Costel Plescan Elena Loredana Plescan Daniel Taus

Rapid urbanization, uncoordinated land-use growth, and insufficient integration of public transport have led to severe traffic congestion and declining mobility in Peshawar, Pakistan, even after the implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. The core research problem addressed in this study is the mismatch between growing travel demand and the limited capacity, coverage, and operational efficiency of the existing urban transport network. This research aims to evaluate the current performance of Peshawar’s transport system and to identify integrated, evidence-based strategies to alleviate congestion and enhance urban mobility. Specifically, the objectives are to assess roadway level of service on major corridors, examine public transport user satisfaction with the BRT system, and propose targeted infrastructure and operational improvements. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining traffic volume and level-of-service (LOS) analysis, public transport user surveys, and field observations at critical intersections. The findings indicate that several key arterial roads operate at LOS E–F during peak hours, and future traffic projections indicate widespread capacity failures under existing road geometries. Survey results reveal significant dissatisfaction with the BRT system, particularly due to limited spatial coverage, inadequate feeder routes, overcrowding, and excessive travel times. Based on these results, the study proposes integrated interventions, including road widening and auxiliary lanes, geometric and signalized junction improvements, expansion of BRT feeder services, development of new arterial and ring roads, and enhanced pedestrian and parking infrastructure. This study links quantitative traffic performance measures with user-perceived service deficiencies. It provides practical, data-driven guidance for policymakers and planners to support a more efficient, accessible, and sustainable urban transport system in Peshawar.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070358

Authors: Kerem Yavuz Arslanlı Seda Kundak Çağlar Göksu Ahmet Atıl Asıcı Ali Yılmaz Duygu Kalkanlı Cihan Mert Sabah

This paper develops a scenario-based population modelling framework for the 847 mahalle (smallest administrative unit) of Istanbul, Türkiye, extending an empirical baseline for 2007–2025 into prospective scenarios to 2035. The baseline combines rank-size (Zipf) analysis, density quintile trajectories, trajectory classification, and phase-diagram analysis of early versus late-period growth. It reveals a persistent U-shaped deviation from the Zipf benchmark: both the most and least populous mahalle grew strongly through suburban mega-development and peri-urban expansion, respectively, while the established inner-city middle tier remained essentially unchanged. Density followed an inverted gradient, rising sharply on the low-density suburban fringe and contracting in the hyper-dense core. Building on this baseline, the paper defines a baseline continuation (S0) and four alternative scenarios: moderate economic stress (S1), a major North Anatolian Fault earthquake (S2), a combined shock (S3), and policy-led urban renewal (S4). The baseline trajectory amplifies existing inequalities; seismic and economic shocks compress upper-tail growth while generating displacement demand in outer-ring mahalle; and only S4 partially reverses the density-gradient inversion, by stimulating inner-city regeneration under Türkiye’s risky-area programme. The findings link intra-urban population redistribution to seismic-risk exposure and inform spatially targeted planning.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070357

Authors: Peng Cao Caiyuan Zhao

Land-intensive high-density residential development often comes at the cost of compromised natural ventilation efficiency and reduced capacity for urban heat island mitigation, and such trade-offs are particularly pronounced in valley cities due to topographical constraints. Taking Lanzhou Yineng Huanghe Jiayuan as a case study, this research constructs a “Source-Flow-Sink” landscape ventilation efficiency measurement framework based on circuit theory and CFD numerical simulation. Combined with correlation analysis and multiple linear regression, the coupling mechanism between spatial morphology and ventilation efficiency is examined. The results indicate that: (1) The study area exhibits a ventilation pattern characterized by “Source” in the north, “Flow” in the middle, and “Sink” in the south; (2) The wind speed ratio in the residential area shows a highly significant negative correlation with vegetation coverage, and a significant negative correlation with building dispersion and average building height; (3) Based on three configuration modes of “Source-Flow-Sink”, differentiated micro-renewal strategies that do not alter the core indicators of land intensification are proposed, providing a scientific basis for climate-adaptive design of intensive residential areas in valley cities.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070356

Authors: Zofia Kuzevicova Stefan Kuzevic Diana Bobikova

This paper focuses on the analysis of long-term land surface temperature (LST) dynamics and land-use changes in the city of Košice, Slovakia, during the period 1985–2025. The analysis is based on multi-temporal Landsat satellite imagery processed within a geographic information system (GIS) environment. Non-parametric statistical methods, including the Mann–Kendall trend test and the Theil–Sen slope estimator, were applied at the pixel level to identify the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of long-term trends. Land-use changes were evaluated using CORINE Land Cover data together with the NDVI and NDBI spectral indices. The results revealed a statistically significant increase in land surface temperature across almost the entire urban area, with the mean LST increasing by 5.83 °C between 1985 and 2025. The analysis also confirmed a strong positive correlation between built-up areas and LST values, whereas vegetation cover exhibited a significant cooling effect represented by a strong negative correlation with surface temperature. Spatial analysis identified pronounced warming hotspots concentrated mainly in industrial and newly urbanized areas, while vegetation-stabilized zones showed lower warming intensity or localized cooling trends. The findings highlight the dominant influence of urbanization processes on the city’s thermal regime and emphasize the importance of urban vegetation as a key adaptation element for mitigating the surface urban heat island effect. The study also illustrates the added value of integrating remote sensing data, GIS tools, and pixel-based trend analysis in the assessment of long-term changes in the urban thermal environment of medium-sized Central European cities. The results provide a spatial basis for climate adaptation planning and future assessments of urban thermal comfort and environmental quality.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070355

Authors: Vladimir Kurdyukov Lyudmila Borisova Ilona Avlasenko Pavel Shipilin Xudong Wang

Urban sustainability is tied to transport sustainability. Limitations of tools for internalization of externalities and distortions of incentives for environmentally friendly behavior of vehicle owners hinder the transition to sustainable urban development. The complexity of accurately assessing pollutants emissions by motor vehicles makes it difficult to internalize the economic damage caused by actual emissions. The purpose of the study is to develop a system for organizing the internalization of damage caused by actual emissions of pollutants by motor vehicles in the territory. For motor vehicles, the power consumption depends on operating conditions and driving style. Effective power affects the volume of exhaust gases, and the quality of the power unit and the efficiency of its management affect the content of pollutants in the exhaust gases. A system of interaction of environmental policy instruments is proposed, which allows for the internalization of economic damage from actual emissions of pollutants from vehicles. The basis of the system is dependencies of the masses of pollutant emissions with vehicle exhaust gases on the actual engine power used. The system assumes the internalization of damage from emissions, joint use of the mechanism of buying and selling rights to pollute the environment (for public and freight transport), and emission payments (for other types of vehicles). The system for accounting for actual emissions will improve the adequacy of comparing alternatives for the movement of passengers and goods, including with electric transport and unmanned systems. The system for ensuring the internalization of damage from actual emissions will reduce distortions and create adequate incentives to reduce damage from emissions.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070354

Authors: Claudia de Biase Fabiana Forte Daniela Menna Antonetta Napolitano Yvonne Russo

In recent decades, residential mobility has emerged as a fundamental interpretative key lens for understanding contemporary urban transformations, particularly in polycentric and fragmented urban contexts. Movements between different residential settings reflect economic, social and cultural changes, impacting the organisation of urban spaces, the demand for services and mobility systems. In territories characterised by dispersed settlement patterns and strong functional polarisation, these dynamics tend to promote the intensive use of private means, with consequent negative impacts on environmental sustainability, social equity and economic efficiency. In response to these critical issues, there is growing interest in sustainable mobility models based on proximity and on the integration between daily travel, access to services and the quality of public space. Within this perspective, greenways are configured as hybrid infrastructures, capable of reorganising mobility while contributing to the regeneration of urban spaces. In the Caserta area, in the Campania region, the disused route of the former Alifana railway represents a topic of great interest, both for research and planning. Its potential strategic conversion into a greenway opens a broader perspective than that so far considered at the regional level, which has mainly focused on the infrastructure dimension. The paper analyses the strengths and weaknesses of an approach limited to infrastructural mobility, proposing a comparative evaluation of project scenarios—including the non-intervention hypothesis—both through the application of the MACBETH approach and preliminary parametric estimation of construction costs, in order to emphasise the importance of integrating social and environmental benefits, as well as quality of life, into decision-making processes.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070353

Authors: Alica Kalašová Miloš Poliak Peter Fabian Kristián Čulík

This study examines the potential effect of hypothetical Urban Air Mobility (UAM) demand redistribution on congestion and signalized intersection performance in the urban environment of Topoľčany, Slovakia. Based on a calibrated microsimulation model, scenarios involving the redistribution of a portion of ground traffic demand away from the road network were analyzed at 30% and 50% during the morning peak period. The evaluation focused primarily on travel times and intersection load. The results indicate that a moderate reduction in ground traffic demand leads to a significant reduction in travel times and traffic intensity. The most substantial improvement was observed in the 30% redistribution scenario. In comparison, a further increase to 50% did not yield proportional benefits, suggesting a nonlinear threshold effect in the transport system’s performance. It should be emphasized that the UAM scenarios in this study do not represent a full operational simulation of Urban Air Mobility, including aerial corridors, vertiports, waiting times, intermodal transfers, or airspace capacity. Instead, they represent demand redistribution scenarios used to evaluate the response of the existing signalized road network to reduced ground traffic demand. The study identifies limitations arising from simplified model assumptions and the absence of broader environmental, operational, and social considerations. Nevertheless, the findings show that even a moderate reduction in road traffic demand, potentially associated with future multimodal mobility concepts, can contribute to improved traffic efficiency in congested urban networks.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070352

Authors: Francisco Vergara-Perucich

Background: Urban planning documents at metropolitan scale typically demand large, cloud-hosted language models that limit their adoption in Global South contexts. This study deploys Moondream, a 1.7-billion-parameter vision-language model (VLM) runnable locally via Ollama, for extracting geographic knowledge from Planes Reguladores Comunales (PRCs) across 29 processed Gran Santiago municipalities. The pipeline combines native PDF text extraction, keyword-based multi-label classification across six thematic axes, and VLM-based optical character recognition and cartographic interpretation. Results: The pipeline processes 2289 PRC articles in 4.3 min at an estimated energy cost of 0.000866 kWh and zero marginal monetary cost. Zoning (53.3%) and land use (43.1%) dominate PRC content, while social housing provisions appear in only 4.0% of articles; normative gap analysis identifies five municipalities where social housing is entirely absent from regulatory text. A comparative evaluation of Moondream against keyword baseline on an 88-article validation sample yields macro-F1 = 0.355 and mean Cohen’s κ = 0.004, confirming that generalist VLMs require domain fine-tuning for specialized legal text. It is argued that the cost asymmetry between industrial-scale and small-model approaches constitutes an epistemic asymmetry with direct consequences for the geographic distribution of urban data infrastructure.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070351

Authors: Emanuela Resta Onofrio Resta Piergiuseppe Liuzzi Alberto Costantiello Angelo Leogrande

Respiratory mortality in Europe is associated with interacting environmental, infrastructural, climatic, and energy-related conditions. This study investigates country–year patterns of respiratory disease mortality by integrating panel-data econometrics, clustering analysis, and machine-learning prediction. The econometric results indicate that agricultural land use and coal-based electricity generation are positively associated with respiratory mortality, while access to electricity and freshwater withdrawals show negative associations. Cooling degree days capture a heat-related environmental-health dimension, although some coefficients become weaker under robust specifications. Sanitation and renewable energy display heterogeneous and specification-sensitive patterns, suggesting that they may partly reflect broader development gradients, infrastructure transitions, and regional heterogeneity rather than direct causal mechanisms. Hierarchical clustering identifies 10 country–year environmental-health profiles, highlighting differentiated combinations of energy systems, land use, infrastructure, climatic exposure, and respiratory mortality. This approach avoids treating countries as fixed homogeneous units and allows environmental-health profiles to vary over time. The selected hierarchical solution provides a balanced and interpretable structure relative to more polarized clustering alternatives. Machine-learning models are used as a complementary predictive exercise rather than as substitutes for econometric inference. Within the adopted validation framework, K-nearest neighbors achieves the strongest predictive performance. Additional stability checks and local additive explanations improve transparency regarding model tuning and prediction behavior, while confirming that machine-learning outputs should be interpreted as predictive rather than causal evidence. Overall, the findings support integrated and region-sensitive policy approaches combining air-quality management, infrastructure resilience, energy transition, climate adaptation, and public-health planning.

Urban Science doi: 10.3390/urbansci10070350

Authors: Manuel J. C. S. Reis

Smart cities increasingly rely on distributed sensing and edge intelligence to support urban planning, mobility management, environmental monitoring, and critical infrastructure operation. However, large-scale urban Internet-of-Things deployments are constrained by heterogeneous device capabilities, limited energy availability, variable communication conditions, and data-governance requirements. Federated learning offers a data-locality-preserving alternative to centralized model training, but conventional federated learning strategies often assume full, random, or fixed client participation, which can lead to unnecessary energy consumption, communication overhead, or client starvation in resource-constrained urban environments. This paper proposes an Energy- and Communication-Aware Federated Learning strategy, termed ECA-FL, for smart city sensing systems. The main novelty of the work lies in the joint use of residual device energy and communication conditions to guide adaptive client participation and local training effort, providing a tunable resource–performance trade-off rather than an accuracy-maximizing strategy alone. The framework is evaluated through a controlled simulation-based study using a synthetic multi-class urban sensing proxy task distributed across 100 federated clients under strongly non-IID conditions. Compared with full-participation FedAvg, ECA-FL reduces cumulative energy consumption by 82.9% and communication overhead by 64.7%, while maintaining a final accuracy of 0.8124 compared with 0.8319 for FedAvg-full. Compared with rigid fixed-participation strategies, ECA-FL avoids severe learning degradation by adapting participation dynamically instead of excluding clients according to a static rule. A sensitivity analysis further shows that the trade-off parameter controls the balance between learning performance and resource conservation, allowing the framework to be adjusted according to different deployment priorities. The results support the hypothesis that adaptive energy- and communication-aware participation can substantially reduce operational cost while preserving acceptable learning performance within the adopted simulation setting. The study provides practical design insights for sustainable, communication-conscious, and data-locality-preserving federated learning in smart city sensing infrastructures.